James and Jade North and the Philosopher's Stone
by Lady Alianne
Summary: AU. The Dursleys don't want Harry, so they dump him on the step of a random house in another town. The owner happens to be a Muggleborn witch and she adopts Harry, making him the 'twin brother' to her daughter and with the name James North. COMPLETE!
1. Harry Replaced

This is a collaboration between Elspeth25 and Lady Alianne. Elspeth25 had a dream where the Dursleys didn't want Harry and dumped him elsewhere. As she is busy with her Marauders and Lily reads series, her sister Lady Alianne is helping her with the fic.

Disclaimer for entire fic: We do not own the Harry Potter world. The fantastic author J.K. Rowling does.

Petunia Dursley opened the front door to put out the milk bottles and shrieked when she saw the bundle on the doorstep. "Vernon!" she shouted. "Someone left a baby!"

Vernon Dursley came rushing over. "What is a baby doing on our doorstep?"

Petunia shrugged and picked up the letter resting on top of the blanket. She opened and read it. Her lips thinned. "My dratted, freak sister and her good-for-nothing husband got themselves killed by another freak that was trying to take over," she snapped. "This _brat_ is her son and the freak headmaster of my sister's school says we have to take him in."

"Excuse me?" sputtered Vernon. "We have to take in someone who'll be a freak too?"

"According to this letter, we do," responded Petunia, lips pursed. "The freak headmaster says that the evil freak was defeated when he tried to kill my sister's son. He believes that the freak might someday try to return to power and that the boy will be safe with us."

"We are not going to raise a freak!" snapped Vernon. "I don't want him living with us."

"Well, then what do we do with him?" asked Petunia, staring down at her nephew.

"Dump him somewhere," said Vernon. "We can find an orphanage and dump him there, or just leave him on someone's doorstep and let them deal with this."

"I suppose," said Petunia doubtfully. "All right, we can do that. When?"

"I'll drive someplace late tonight and dump the freak," said Vernon. "You'll just have to put with him for the duration of the day, Petunia. Okay?"

"Fine," said Petunia, kissing her husband on the cheek. She picked up the bundle that was Harry James Potter and brought him inside. The letter was burned and an hour and a half later, Vernon went to work. Petunia went about her daily duties. She spent most of her time on Dudley, but did take the time to feed Harry once and change him twice. To keep him occupied, she gave him a stuffed dog with a torn leg that Dudley no longer wanted.

In the evening, Harry fell asleep. Petunia bundled him up in the blankets he had shown up in. At eleven o'clock, Vernon drove away with the toddler. Around midnight, he arrived at a town not too far from London. Not knowing the location of an orphanage, he decided to leave Harry on the doorstep of a random home.

He stopped in a neighborhood where the houses were on the small side and walked up to a random house. He placed Harry on the doorstep and then drove away, not looking back.

In the morning, one Sylvia North opened the door to let the cat outside. She gasped and dropped the newspaper in her hand. Once she recovered from her shock, she bent down and picked up the baby. "Well now, what are you doing here on my doorstep?"

She brought him inside and took a good look at him. She gasped again when she saw the scar on his forehead. She was a Muggleborn witch and therefore recognized this baby as Harry James Potter, the boy-who-lived. How in Merlin's name had he ended up on her doorstep? From what she had heard, the boy was supposed to be with his relatives.

Sylvia sat down and sighed. What was she going to do? Perhaps Harry's relatives didn't want him and had decided to dump him on a random doorstep. Well, if that was the case, then the poor child needed a loving home. She could certainly give him one. She had a daughter of her own, Jadina, Jade for short, who could be his sister. Unfortunately, she couldn't give Harry a father. Her husband, also a Muggleborn, had died two months ago going after Death Eaters in his work as an Auror.

As a result, Sylvia had decided to have nothing more to do with the wizarding world, at least not until Jade turned eleven and received her Hogwarts letter. Sylvia planned to get a job in the Muggle world and send Jade to nursery school when she a little older.

A faint cry shook Sylvia out of her thoughts and she went to tend to Jade. Awhile later, Harry woke up and had to be tended to. He kept asking for his parents and someone he called "Unca Pafoo." The 'unca' was obviously baby talk for 'uncle', but Sylvia had no idea who 'Pafoo' was, or what name it was baby talk for.

Harry calmed down, however, when he was placed in the playpen with Jade. The two played with some blocks and a stuffed dragon, babbling in a mix of understandable words and baby talk. Sylvia smiled and then did some housework, planning what to do.

Finally she decided that she would adopt Harry, and use a little magic to speed up the process in the courts. Then she could do some magic to make it appear as if Harry was her son and Jade's twin. Jade's birthday was only a week earlier than Harry's, so it could work. Magic could make Harry's appearance similar to Jade's. Both children already had green eyes. Harry's hair would just have to be changed to dark brown to match Jade's, and his scar hidden. He would also take the last name of North, and he might even have to go by his middle name of James.

Sylvia believed that Voldemort hadn't really died, but had merely lost his powers and a corporeal body when Harry had defeated him. Voldemort wouldn't suspect that James North was Harry Potter this way. Dumbledore would be worried about the whereabouts of the 'boy-who-lived', but it would serve him right for leaving Harry with relatives who didn't want him. She was not going to enlighten Dumbledore at all.

The next day, Sylvia notified the authorities about the baby left on her doorstep and her wish to adopt him. A little magic helped speed the process along. A Confundus Charm ensured that the social worker and judge were agreeable to things.

Within two weeks, Sylvia was the adopted mother of Harry, who was now known as James Harry North, with the birthday of July 25th. The authorities had determined that the birthday was around that time, so the judge accepted it.

The next year, Jade and James were placed in a preschool and Sylvia went to work. As she didn't have any Muggle education beyond primary school, the only job she was able to secure was as a waitress in the local diner. She made enough to pay the bills with a little left over, though some of the things she bought for her children had to be second-hand. Life seemed happy.

A/N: From now on, Harry will be known as James. That is what everyone calls him, and he will grow up believing that it's his real name until his adopted mother tells him the truth when he's older.


	2. Meet James and Jade

James and Jade were in the schoolyard, discussing a book they had read with their best friend, Hermione Granger. Hermione's parents were dentists, and she lived in a large house in a wealthier neighborhood of town. She was also a bookworm, and combined with the odd occurrences that happened around her, most students weren't eager to be her friend. James and Jade were the only ones willing to be her friends. The 'twins' enjoyed reading as well, and strange occurrences happened around them too.

"I'm really impressed with Alanna's skill," remarked Hermione. She normally read nonfiction books or ones that were classics, but with James and Jade, did share a weakness for fantasy books. Like Jade, she especially enjoyed fantasy books where the main character was female, and preferably one that proved women were the equal of men.

"Yeah," said Jade. "I know she's definitely going to achieve her dream and become a knight. Sometimes I wish I lived in Tortall and could do what Alanna did."

"Well, you can't," said James. "And even if we did live in Tortall, you wouldn't be able to become a knight, Jade. You wear glasses like me, and knights don't wear them, unless they were reading glasses. And contacts don't exist in Tortall."

Jade sighed. "Well, at least it's nice to dream about. You know, Alanna reminds me of Joan of Arc and Mulan."

"Who is Mulan?" asked Hermione curiously. "I've never heard of her."

"She's a heroine in Chinese myth," responded James. "Mum told us about her. Mulan disguised as a man to fight in the war because her father was too old to be drafted and her brother was too young. The emperor awarded her great honors at the conclusion of the war. When Mulan returned home and went back to being dressed as a girl, her friends from the army could hardly recognize her."

"Mulan's story is written in the form of a poem," said Jade. "It's called 'The Ballad of Hua Mulan'. Hua is her surname. Mum's read the English translation of the poem once, from this friend of hers from school who was Chinese."

"Well, Mulan sounds really brave and wonderful," commented Hermione.

"After Mum told us the story, Jade spent a week pretending that she was Mulan, going off into battle to fight the enemies of China," said James with a laugh.

"Do you have to go about telling Hermione everything I do, James?" demanded Jade.

"Sorry," said James. "I thought what you did was fun, Jade. It's like when I spent the week pretending I was Matthais the mouse warrior after we read the book _Redwall_."

"But then you insisted on having us play the twin churchmice Tim and Tess in_Mattimeo_. That wasn't something I particularly wanted to do, James."

Hermione quickly intervened before it became an argument. "Your eleventh birthdays are next month, guys. What do you want for your presents?"

"Books," answered Jade promptly. "Any book will do, but I would prefer fantasy."

"A book would be nice," said James. "But I would also like a new video game."

"You're going to have to ask Mum for a video game," said Jade. "They cost more than a book and you can't ask Hermione to spend the money on something that expensive."

The bell rang then, signifying that recess was over, and they hurried back to the school.

A week later, school let out for the summer holidays. James and Jade spent much of their time at Hermione's house, as the Grangers had a housekeeper, or at the library or park.

On July 25th, James and Jade celebrated their eleventh birthdays. Their mother took the day off from work and a small party was held. James received a new video game from his mother, a book each from Hermione and Jade, and a watch from the Drs. Granger. Jade received a silver locket on a silver chain and pink nail polish from her mother, a book each from Hermione and James, and a charm bracelet from the Drs. Granger.

That evening, Mrs. North sat the 'twins' down and explained all about the wizarding world and that she was a Muggleborn witch. She had to take out her wand and do a couple of simple spells before they actually accepted the fact that magic was real. She added that as now they were eleven, they would soon receive letters to attend Hogwarts, and she told them a little about her time at the school.

"So all the odd stuff we did was magic!" exclaimed James. "Was Dad magic too?"

"Yes, he was," responded Mrs. North. "Like me, he was also Muggleborn. He was an Auror, the wizarding equivalent of a policeman, and was killed going after some very evil wizards known as Death Eaters. They were the followers of an extraordinary evil wizard who called himself Lord Voldemort. Most witches and wizards are scared to say his name and refer to him as 'You-Know-Who' or 'He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named'. His followers called him the 'Dark Lord'. However, he's gone now."

"Oh," said Jade. "That's good. But I don't want to go to Hogwarts and leave Hermione."

"You won't be leaving her," said Mrs. North gently. "Odd things have happened around her too, right? I've suspected for a long time now that she's a witch. I'm sure she'll get a Hogwarts letter also and will be attending Hogwarts with you two."

"That's great!" exclaimed James. "Hermione'll be in Hogwarts with us and we'll have a wonderful seven years there. I didn't like the idea of leaving her, either."

"There's more," said Mrs. North. "James, this will come as a shock, but you're not really Jade's twin, and your birth name is Harry James Potter."

James stared, dumbfounded. "You're saying I was adopted?" he finally got out.

"Yes," said his adoptive mother gently. "I found you on the doorstep on November third, 1981, and decided to adopt you. I knew who you were because you're famous in the wizarding world." She explained about Voldemort, the war against him, and how he had killed Lily and James Potter, but hadn't been able to kill Harry. She also removed the glamour so that James could see his lightning-shaped scar.

"But why did you have to switch my name around and everything?" asked James. "And why was I left on your doorstep, Mum?"

"Voldemort's magic is very powerful and I am certain he found some way to keep from dying when the Killing Curse bounced off you," answered Mrs. North. "His powers would have been weakened, of course, and I don't think he has a proper body. However, he isn't gone, and I am certain he will try to find a way to return to power someday. Having it look like you're my son and going by James will fool him.

"As to why you were left on my doorstep, I'm not sure, but I think your relatives didn't want you. I was acquainted with your mother, for we were in the same house, though I was two years above her. She mentioned once that her older sister, a Muggle, didn't like the fact that she was a witch. I suppose your aunt hated magic as a result, and didn't want you when you were placed with her. So she decided to leave you with someone else and have him or her decide what to do with you. Fortunately, you were left with me."

James got up and hugged his mother. "I'm glad you adopted me, Mum. If my aunt had kept me, I'm sure my childhood wouldn't have been that great. It probably would have been like – like Cor's childhood as Shasta in_The Horse and His Boy_." He then hugged Jade. "And I'm glad to have you for my sister, even if we aren't twins now."

Jade grinned. "You're the best brother anyone could ask for, James."

"Mum, can we tell Hermione the truth about me?" asked James. "We've never kept any big secrets from her and I don't really want to start now."

"After she gets her Hogwarts letter and the wizarding world is explained to her, you can tell her," said Mrs. North. "But first you have to make her promise not to tell anyone."

The next day, the Hogwarts letters arrived. James and Jade were very excited. They went to see Hermione, who had also received a letter and was having everything explained to her and her parents by Professor McGonagall, the Deputy Headmistress at Hogwarts. She was also the Transfiguration teacher and Head of Gryffindor house. Hermione was very excited to find that her friends were also magical. McGonagall asked if James and Jade were Muggleborn and they replied that their parents were.

Since Mrs. North had offered to take the Grangers to Diagon Alley, McGonagall left after she had explained things, taking with her a note saying that the three kids were attending. The Drs. Grangers finally left for their dental clinic and Jade, James, and Hermione spent the morning reading Mrs. North's old copy of _Hogwarts, a History_. In the afternoon, the 'twins' explained about Voldemort and told Hermione the truth about James. She was startled to find out that he was adopted and that in the wizarding world, he was famous. She promised to not reveal that James was really Harry Potter.

That evening, it was arranged for Mrs. North to take her kids and the Grangers to Diagon Alley to buy school supplies on the thirty-first of July. James, Jade, and Hermione couldn't wait to attend Hogwarts and learn magic.


	3. Diagon Alley

On the thirty-first, Mrs. North took the day off from work and with the Grangers and her children, went to Diagon Alley. They drove to London and parked outside the Leaky Cauldron. The Drs. Grangers couldn't see it at first, for the pub was hidden from non-magical eyes. It wasn't until Mrs. North pointed it out and Hermione took their hands that they saw it. They were quite surprised to see the pub appear before their eyes.

Once inside, they saw the barkeeper, Tom, talking with a giant of a man that Mrs. North said was Rubeus Hagrid, the gamekeeper at Hogwarts. Tom turned as the Norths and Grangers approached and his gaze rested on James. "Is that Harry Potter?"

"That's my son, James North," said Mrs. North. "I'm sorry, Tom."

Tom and Hagrid both sighed. "I was hoping Harry Potter would show up," said Tom.

James and Jade exchanged looks, while Hermione smothered a smile. Hagrid shook his head. "I hope Harry turns up soon. Dumbledore's bin worried abou' it all. Harry Potter hasn' answered any of the letters sent to him. An' when Professor Snape was sent to fetch Harry, his aunt and uncle said there was no boy named Harry there. Professor Snape checked an' didn' find Harry or any sign of him havin' lived there."

Mrs. North quickly explained who Harry Potter was to the Grangers and then led them out the pub and to the little courtyard in the back. She took out her wand and tapped a brick on the wall. The bricks began shifting and an entrance was revealed. The six of them stepped through. "Welcome to Diagon Alley," said Mrs. North.

James, Jade, and Hermione gazed around in awe. "This is incredible!" breathed Jade.

Mrs. North smiled. "First stop, Gringotts, the wizarding bank. It's run by goblins."

They couldn't help staring at the goblin standing by the doors of Gringotts. Mrs. North hid a smile and ushered them inside. They went up to the counter where a goblin named Ragnok exchanged their pounds into Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts. The exchange rate was approximately five pounds to a Galleon. Mrs. North received fifty Galleons, thirty Sickles, and twenty Knuts.

When they were done, they saw Hagrid come in. He told the goblin at the front desk that he had a letter from Professor Dumbledore, about the 'You-Know-What' in vault 713. Naturally, James was very curious as to what the 'You-Know-What' was, but he was unable to ask questions and had to hurry outside after the Grangers.

They first went to Flourish and Blotts. Hermione got all the books on the list, plus a few extra for background reading. To save money, Jade decided to use her mother's old textbooks. James had to buy books, but they weren't new. They were all second-hand. Unlike Hermione, he and Jade did not bother getting any books for extra reading. They didn't want to spend any more of their mother's limited budget than was necessary, and anyway, they could always check out the books from the Hogwarts library.

Next they bought cauldrons and stopped at the Apothecary for Potions supplies. Both James and Jade got second-hand cauldrons. When the Potions supplies were bought, they moved on to buy parchment, quills, and ink. That was followed by the purchase of scales, telescopes, and glass phials. After that were the robes, hat, gloves, and cloak.

The Grangers went to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions while the Norths went inside a second-hand robe shop. They looked over the selection of school robes and finally picked out six sets of robes that weren't too shabby and more-or-less fitted James and Jade. A couple were slightly too large, but Mrs. North said she could shrink them to fit. Then they went inside Madam Malkin's, where Mrs. North bought James and Jade each a new hat, a pair of dragon hide gloves, and a winter cloak.

Finally they went to Ollivander's Wand Shop for the wands. Jade offered to use her father's wand, but Mrs. North explained that the wand chose the witch or wizard. Jade would get better results with a wand of her own, not with somebody else's wand.

Mr. Ollivander was a slightly creepy old man with silvery eyes. He greeted them and asked if Mrs. North's wand (birch, unicorn hair, ten and a half inches) was in good working order. She said yes and his gaze then turned on the preteens. He gestured at James to go first and pulling out a long tape measure, asked, "Which is your wand arm?"

"Er – the right one, sir," responded James as he held out his right arm.

The tape measure began measuring on it's own as Mr. Ollivander flitted around the shelves, taking down boxes and explaining the three cores used in his wands.

"That will do," he said finally, and the tape measure crumpled into a heap on the floor. "Right then, Mr. North. Try this one. Beechwood and dragon heartstring. Nine inches, Nice and flexible. Just take it and give it a wave."

James took it and waved it around a bit, but Mr. Ollivander snatched it almost at once.

"Maple and phoenix feather. Seven inches. Quite whippy. Try –"

James tried, but he had hardly raised the wand when it was snatched back.

"No, no – here, ebony and unicorn hair, eight and a half inches, springy. Go on, go on, try it out." James tried, but that was snatched away as well. He was given more wands to try, but they were snatched away as well. To save time, the tape measure took Jade's and Hermione's measurements and they began trying the wands James discarded.

A few minutes later, Hermione found the perfect wand. It was vine wood, with a core of dragon heartstring. Blue and silver sparks shot out of the end as she raised the wand above her head. Her parents paid for it as Jade picked up another discarded wand. This one was holly and unicorn hair, eleven inches. Green and white sparks shot out the end as she waved it around and it was the perfect wand for her. She grinned broadly.

Meanwhile, James still hadn't found the perfect wand. In the end, he must have tried every wand in the store, except for the one on the cushion in the window. Jade had begun tapping her foot impatiently and Hermione began reading one of her books.

Finally James was handed a wand of holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches. As soon as he touched it, he felt a sudden warmth in his fingers. He raised the wand above his head, brought it swishing down through the dusty air and a stream of red and gold sparks shot from the end like a firework. "About time," muttered Jade.

Mr. Ollivander cried, "Oh, bravo! Yes, indeed, oh, very good. Well, well, well … how curious … how very curious …" He put James's wand back into its box and wrapped it in brown paper, muttering, "Curious … curious…"

When James asked what was curious, Mr. Ollivander explained that the phoenix that gave a tail feather for the wand had also gave one other feather for another wand. That wand was the one that had chosen He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, or Voldemort.

As Mrs. North paid for two wands, James shivered and wondered what it meant. After all, the brother wand to his had killed his birth parents and given him the scar. Well, there was nothing he could do about it. The wand had chosen him and he couldn't get another.

Unbeknownst to the Norths and Grangers, when they left the shop, Mr. Ollivander wrote a letter to Dumbledore. The headmaster frowned when he read that one James North had bought the brother wand to Voldemort's. As North wasn't a wizarding name, James had to be Muggleborn. However, his having that wand was a concern. Dumbledore decided to keep an eye on the boy. He didn't want another Dark Lord to come into power.

Meanwhile, there was quick stop at Eeylops Owl Emporium, where Mrs. North bought a beautiful snowy owl, mainly for James, but Jade would share her as well. Then they stopped at Magical Menagerie, where Jade picked out an adorable white kitten with gold and ebony spots. She hesitated between naming her Faithful, after the cat in _The Song of the Lioness Quartet_, or Mulan. When the witch behind the counter mentioned that in Asian cultures, three-colored cats were considered lucky, Jade decided on Mulan.

After that, the Norths and Grangers drove home. James wasn't sure what to name his owl at first, but after flipping through his schoolbooks, he decided to name her Hedwig, a name he found in _A History of Magic_.

That evening, Mrs. North took out the money left over and gave Jade and James each ten Knuts, ten Sickles, and five Galleons for their spending money. The two carefully stowed the money away in their trunks.

Hermione read through the set books and learned them off by heart. Jade practically memorized the contents also, but James didn't. He did retain much of what was in his books, but he couldn't tell you everything like Jade and Hermione did. The three also did some simple spells for practice. The spells all worked for Hermione and Jade. James, on the other hand, had more difficulty. He was able to master the Levitation Charm and repaired his glasses when they accidentally broke, but when he tried a simple transfiguration, it didn't really work. All he was able to do was change the color of the button from red to blue, which was more of a charm than a transfiguration.

Finally he gave up on Transfiguration for the time being. Mrs. North had said that Lily Potter was good at Charms, and apparently he had inherited some of that talent. It was obvious he hadn't inherited his father's talent at Transfiguration, though, and he made a note to ask Jade and Hermione for help in that subject when school started.

James, Jade, and Hermione counted down the days to September the first. They couldn't wait for the start of term.


	4. The Hogwarts Express

A gasp and cup knocking over caused James and Jade look up from their breakfast. "What's the matter, Mum?" asked Jade, looking concerned.

Mrs. North magically cleaned up the spilled tea, then laid down the copy of the _Daily Prophet_. "Supposedly Harry Potter has been found. Here, read this article for yourselves, dears." James picked up the newspaper and placed it between himself and Jade.

"_Yesterday, Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, was brought to the Ministry. According to his guardian, Larry Anton, Harry was found on the doorstep. Anton, a wizard visiting from the United States, decided to adopt the boy and took Harry with him when he returned home. Harry was given the name Darryl Anton and brought up in the States._

_Larry Anton decided to visit England again this morning, and when he heard about the search for Harry Potter, brought his adopted son to the Ministry. A glamour originally gave the boy blue eyes and reddish-blond hair and hid the scar. It has been removed and he now has black hair, green eyes, and the scar has been revealed. He will be attending Hogwarts when the school term starts in two days. We all wish to welcome Harry Potter, alias Darryl Anton, back to wizarding England._"

James and Jade exchanged looks. It was obvious that some wizard was taking advantage of the search for Harry Potter and claimed that his son was the Boy-Who-Lived.

"What rubbish!" exclaimed Jade. "How can anyone believe that Darryl is Harry Potter?"

"People will be willing to believe anything," said Mrs. North. "Besides, I'm sure this Larry Anton coached his son in how to act. The story about finding the baby boy on the doorstep fits, because Petunia and Vernon Dursley, Harry's aunt and uncle, admitted to it. If you read further on, it says that when Ministry officials questioned the Dursleys, Mr. Dursley admitted that they hated magic, didn't want Harry, and dumped him on the step of a random home. Well, this confirms how you ended up on my doorstep, James."

James got up and hugged his mother. "Thank you for everything, Mum. I love you."

Mrs. North smiled and returned the hug. "I love you too, dear. You've been the best son a mother could ask for. I hope your parents up in Heaven see and approve of my bringing you up and loving you."

"I'm sure they approve, Mum," said James fiercely. "You've been the best Mum ever. And being with you would be a million times better than being brought up by my aunt and uncle. The article says that they hate magic. So if they had kept me, I'm sure they would have hated me and their treatment of me would probably border on abuse."

"But there have been things I wanted to do for you and Jade, but have been unable to," said Mrs. North, beckoning for Jade to join them.

"Mum, you love us, and that is enough," said Jade firmly, hugging her mother. "We don't care if you do have the money to do everything you want for us."

"And we don't mind having to put with second-hand things," added James. "You buy us new things when you can afford them and we have our needs adequately taken care of. We're rich in all the things that matter and material things aren't that important, anyway."

"True. Well, it looks like I have brought up two very mature children."

"Well, what do you expect when you're such a good mother?" asked Jade.

James took Jade's hand. "And you're a good sister, Jade. Since my parents aren't alive and can't give me a blood sister, you're a great substitute." He paused, then added, "I didn't mean it the way it came out. Yes, you're my adopted sister, but we're really close and we might as well be twins with the sibling relationship we have."

"I know what you mean," said Jade, giving him a sisterly kiss on the cheek and a hug.

"Okay, could you hurry up and finish your breakfast?" asked Mrs. North. "I have to leave for work in a few minutes. You can continue this conversation later."

Five minutes later, Mrs. North left for work and James and Jade washed and dried the dishes. An hour later, they went to visit Hermione and showed her the article.

"How did this happen?" she demanded when she was done reading. "How can Larry Anton have his son Darryl pretend to be Harry Potter? Won't someone find out?"

Jade shrugged. "People do want to find Harry Potter since he's disappeared, Hermione."

"So they'll believe Darryl claiming to be Harry," concluded Hermione dismally. "I suppose we're to say nothing and not reveal this Darryl Anton to be a fraud?"

James nodded. "Otherwise they'll be questions as to why we know Darryl Anton is a fraud and we can't have that happen. Well, someday I suppose I will reveal myself to be Harry Potter, but I don't want to now. I just want to be a normal boy with a loving mother and sister and a fantastic best friend in you, Hermione."

Hermione grinned. "You're a fantastic friend too, James. You and Jade both. And I'm glad that your aunt and uncle decided to not keep you. If they had, you would have had a terrible life, and I would have never met you until we started Hogwarts."

"I thought of that too," said James. "My relatives would probably have made me sleep in attic room like that girl in the book you read and forced me to do all the chores and stuff."

"What girl – oh, you mean Sara Crewe from _A Little Princess_?" asked Jade. "She was made to sleep in the attic and work as an unpaid servant at the boarding school when her dad died, supposedly leaving her penniless."

"I guess," answered James. "I haven't read the book, only heard you and Hermione discussing it." He decided to change the subject. "We leave for Hogwarts in two days."

Hermione perked up. "I can't wait! It'll be great, learning magic and brewing potions and everything. I just hope I'll do well and that memorizing the set books are enough."

"You'll do well, Hermione," said Jade soothingly. "There are plenty of Muggleborn students and they do well enough. Mum was second in her class, and she said that Dad wasn't far behind. With how brilliant you were in primary school, I'm sure you'll be top of our year at Hogwarts. James, what do you want to learn at Hogwarts?"

"I really want to learn flying," responded James. "Mum said that my father was a good flier and an excellent Quidditch player. I want to see if I've inherited his flying talent, since I don't seem to have inherited his talent in Transfiguration."

"There's more to Hogwarts than flying," said Jade severely. She took schoolwork more seriously than James did.

"I know," sighed James. "I do want to learn magic and everything. I just also want to learn how to fly on a broom as well, that's all."

On the morning of September first, the Norths and Grangers drove to King's Cross Station. Mrs. North explained how to get on Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters. Hermione's parents had to hold Hermione's hands to enter the barrier, for Muggles couldn't get onto the Platform otherwise. The Drs. Granger stared around the platform in wonder and awe. Jade, James, and Hermione found an empty compartment in the back of the train and their parents helped them load their trunks. Hermione, who was in a state of excitement, decided to change into her Hogwarts robes then and there. Jade and James exchanged looks and decided they might as well do the same.

When they were done, Hermione went to one side to talk with her parents. Mrs. North hugged her children tightly. "I am going to miss you two very much," she said, smiling brightly, but her eyes glimmering with unshed tears. "Write to me as often as possible, and I'll do the same. And do your best in your classes and keep out of trouble. Though considering the mischief your father got into while he was in school, James, I wouldn't be surprised if you got into a little mischief yourself."

"I'll do my best to behave, Mum," assured James. "Don't worry about it."

"I know you will, dear," replied Mrs. North. She kissed James and then Jade. "Have a good time at Hogwarts and I'll see you for the Christmas holidays. I love you both."

"We love you too, Mum," said Jade, returning the kiss. The Grangers came over then and Hermione's mother hugged the 'twins'. Hermione's dad shook their hands.

James, Jade, and Hermione boarded the Hogwarts Express and leaned out the window. "Good-bye, dears," said Hermione's mother, dabbing at her eyes. "I hope you three have a good time at Hogwarts and do your best."

"We will, Dr. Granger," said James and Jade at the same time.

A whistle sounded and nearby, three redheaded boys got on the train and leaned out the window to say good-bye to their mother and sister. James glanced in their direction, then gave his adoptive mother one last kiss.

The train then began moving. The three waved to their parents. James noticed the red-haired girl run after the train, half laughing, half-crying, until it gained too much speed. She then fell back and waved to her brothers.

When the people on the platform were out of sight, James, Jade, and Hermione sat down. A round-faced, brown-haired boy that was clutching a toad asked if he could join them, for everywhere else seemed to be full. They said yes and he sat down. He said that his name was Neville Longbottom, his toad's name was Trevor, and that he was a first-year.

"I'm James North," said James, giving Neville a friendly smile. "That is my sister Jade, and the other girl is our best friend Hermione Granger."

The door opened and another boy came in. Jade gasped and exchanged looks with Hermione. James frowned, recognizing the boy as the fake Harry Potter. His picture had been next to the article in the _Prophet_. "You're the boy claiming to be Harry Potter."

"I'm not claiming to be Harry Potter," said Darryl coldly. "I am Harry Potter. Anyway, I was wondering if I could sit here. You seem to have room here."

"Sure, you can sit here," said Jade. "I'm Jade North. This is my brother James and our friend Hermione Granger. And that is Neville Longbottom."

"Granger?" asked Darryl. "Are you related to Hector Dagworth-Granger, by any chance, Hermione? He founded a potion society."

"I don't think so," responded Hermione. "I'm Muggleborn."

"Oh," said Darryl coldly. "You're a Mudblood then." Mulan hissed at him.

"Don't call her that!" exclaimed Neville angrily, eyes wide.

James and Jade jumped to their feet, looking furious. "If you're going to insult our friend, then you can leave this compartment and find someplace else to sit," snapped Jade.

"Fine," retorted Darryl. "I don't want to sit with a couple of Mudbloods, anyway."

After Darryl had left, Hermione asked what 'Mudblood' meant and James and Neville explained the term. She looked shocked at Darryl's rudeness, but unlike Neville, didn't comment on how the 'Boy-Who-Lived' could be like that.

The door opened again and the youngest boy of the family of redheads came in. "Er, hello," he said hesitantly. "I'm Ron Weasley. What was up with Harry Potter? He came barging out of this compartment and when he found out I was a Weasley, he made fun of my family and called me a blood traitor. I left rather than be around him."

"You can join us," offered James. "Anyway, I think the guy who brought up 'Harry' must have taught him to think like a snobby pureblood. When he found out that Hermione here was a Muggleborn, he called her the really offensive term for Muggleborns."

Ron looked shocked. "Not Mud –" He broke off before completing the term and said, "Wow, I can't believe that the Boy-Who-Lived could be so rude. I don't think I want to be his friend. Well, who are you guys?"

"I'm Jade North," said Jade. "This is my brother James. Our Mum is Muggleborn."

"What about your dad?" asked Ron curiously.

"He's dead," answered James. "He was killed going after Death Eaters when we were only one-years old. But he was Muggleborn too."

"Oh," said Ron, going red. "Sorry for asking. What about you two?"

"I'm their best friend, Hermione Granger," responded Hermione.

"And I'm Neville Longbottom," finished Neville.

The five of them talked and got to know each other better. Ron was the sixth son and second youngest in his family. As the Weasleys weren't wealthy, Ron had to make do with secondhand and hand-me-down things. He had his brother Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand, and Percy's old rat. He pulled out Scabbers, saying that Percy had gotten an owl for being made prefect, but Ron had to make do with the rat instead.

Mulan hissed at Scabbers and Jade quickly shut the cat in her carrier, apologizing to Ron. James helped Ron feel better by revealing that he and Jade also had to make do with secondhand things, for their mother didn't make that much money, either.

Neville revealed that he lived with the grandmother, a witch, and that his family thought that he was all-Muggle for ages. His great-uncle Algie kept trying to force magic out of him. It wasn't until Neville was eight that he did his first bout of accidental magic. Great-uncle Algie had hung Neville out an upstairs window and accidentally let go when Great-Aunt Enid offered a meringue. Neville had bounced all the way down the garden and into the road. When he had received his Hogwarts letter, his Great-Uncle Algie had been so pleased that he bought Neville Trevor the toad.

A smiling witch with a food trolley came by then. Ron turned red and muttered that he had brought sandwiches. Jade took out the Galleon her mother had given her that morning to buy snacks and with James, Hermione, and Neville, stepped out. As none of the food was very expensive, Jade and James ended up getting some of everything.

Ron and Neville had to explain some of the sweets, and Jade and James invited Hermione and their new friends to share their food. Hermione was a bit hesitant at first, but after Jade pointed out that she could just brush her teeth longer that night, she gave in.

An hour later, Neville realized that Trevor had escaped, probably when the food trolley had come by. The others volunteered to help search and they walked the entire length of the train, stopping at each compartment and asking the occupants if they'd seen a toad.

Darryl, who was sitting in a compartment with a blond boy, two mean and thickset boys, a pug-faced girl, and another girl built like the two thickset boys, sneered at them.

"Why would anyone have such a stupid pet?" he asked. The blond boy and the two girls laughed. "Anyway, we haven't seen a toad," said Darryl rudely. "Now go away."

Finally Ron found Trevor in one of the boxes on the food trolley. A grateful Neville took the toad and thanked Ron repeatedly as they returned to their compartment.

Their conversation resumed, this time about the four Hogwarts houses. They all wanted to be in Gryffindor, said by many to be the best house. However, Neville said dismally that he'd probably end up in Hufflepuff, and Hermione added that with her brains, she'd also be a good candidate for Ravenclaw, her second choice.

"Cheer up, Neville," said Jade. "Hufflepuff is a perfectly good house. It would show that you're loyal and hard working. And besides, who says you won't be in Gryffindor? I'm sure you have hidden courage and a little confidence will bring it out. You stood up for Hermione when Darryl, I mean Harry, called her that insulting name."

"I guess," said Neville doubtfully. "It's just that my Gran expects me to be –"

"Your grandmother will love you no matter what, Neville," interrupted James. "Like how Mum will love and be proud of me and Jade no matter what."

"It's 'Jade and me'," corrected Jade. James made a face at the correction.

"Besides, if you weren't in the same house as us, we'd still be your friends, Neville," said Hermione. "So don't worry about that."

Neville cheered up slightly and then the girls left the compartment for a few minutes so Ron and Neville could change into their robes. The train then began slowing down, meaning that they were about to arrive. The five of them put the last of the sweets in their pockets and stood up, feeling nervous.

"I hope the Sorting wouldn't be difficult," said Ron nervously.

"It won't be," said Jade. "Mum said we just have to try on a hat." She explained about the Sorting Hat. Neville looked relieved to hear this, while Ron was slightly annoyed.

"I am going to kill Fred," he muttered. "He was going on about wrestling a troll."

The Hogwarts Express came to a complete stop. A voice told everyone to leave his or her luggage, that it would be brought up to the castle in a few minutes. Everyone got of.

Hagrid called all the first years to him and led them to the lake. They would be crossing it in boats to reach the castle. Four people were to a boat. James, Jade, Hermione, and Ron got into a boat. Neville got into a boat with twin girls that looked to be of Indian descent and a sandy-haired boy. Hagrid got into the head boat and they set off.

The first-years were all gazing at Hogwarts. It was simply wonderful.

When they reached the other side, they disembarked and walked up a path to the front entrance. It was dark and Neville tripped twice. Each time, Jade grabbed the back of his robes to keep him from falling flat on his face.

Finally they reached the front doors. Hagrid raised one large fist and knocked loudly.

A/N: I, Lady Alianne, figured that there might be some wizard that would want to take advantage of the search for Harry Potter and get his son to pretend to be Harry. My sister, Elspeth25, decided to make the fake Harry be an unpleasant person so that only Slytherins would really like him. Darryl is a Metamorphmagus, so he was able to change his eyes green , his hair black, and create the scar.


	5. The Sorting

The door swung open at once. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there. She had a very stern face and James recognized her as Professor McGonagall. He could sense that while she was a fair person, crossing her would be a Very Bad Idea.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here." She pulled the door wide. The entrance hall was so big that you could have fitted the whole of the Norths' house in it. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches like the ones at Gringotts, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors.

They followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. James could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right – the rest of the school must already be here – but Professor McGonagall showed the first years into a small empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing closer together than they would usually have done, peering about nervously.

Professor McGonagall then gave a speech about the four houses, how your house would be like your family within Hogwarts, and the point system. She finished with, "The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting." Her eyes lingered for a moment on Neville's cloak, which was fastened under his left ear, and on Ron's smudged nose. James nervously flattened his hair and Jade adjusted her glasses.

"I shall return when we are ready for you," said McGonagall. "Please wait quietly."

She left the chamber. Jade squeezed her brother's hand reassuringly. "Don't worry."

"I'm not," James whispered back. Jade gave him a Look and he amended, "I'm worried that I'll be sorted into Slytherin. Or that I won't be chosen at all."

"Don't be silly, James," said Jade. "With all the odd stuff you've done, you're definitely a wizard. And it doesn't matter if you get into Slytherin. I know you're not evil."

James calmed down a bit, but then something happened which made him jump about a foot in the air – several people behind him screamed. "What the –?"

He gasped. So did the people around him. About twenty ghosts had just streamed through the back wall. Pearly-white and slightly transparent, they glided across the room talking to each other and hardly glancing at the first years. They seemed to be arguing.

"Peeves," muttered James, exchanging grins with Jade. Their mother had told them about the Poltergeist, who delighted in causing mayhem and could only really be controlled by the Bloody Baron, the Slytherin ghost, though he did show some respect to the teachers.

Then a ghost wearing a ruff and tights suddenly noticed the first years. "I say, what are you all doing here?" Nobody answered him.

"New students!" said one of the ghosts, the Fat Friar, smiling around at them. "About to be Sorted, I suppose?" A few people nodded mutely.

"Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!" said the Friar. "My old house, you know."

"Move along now," said a sharp voice. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start." McGonagall had returned. One by one, the ghosts floated away through the opposite wall.

"Now form a line," she told the first years, "and follow me."

Feeling oddly as though his legs had turned to lead, James got into line behind Ron, with Jade behind him, and they walked out of the chamber, back across the hall, and through a pair of double door into the Great Hall.

James had never even imagined such a strange and splendid place. It was lit by thousands and thousands of candles, which were floating in mid-air over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting.

Dumbledore glanced at the supposed Harry Potter, who was swaggering slightly and whispering to a blond boy that was probably Draco Malfoy. If the Boy-Who-Lived was friendly with a Malfoy, this did not look very good. It seemed very likely that Harry had been brought up to think purebloods were better than Muggleborns.

Dumbledore's gaze then rested on his other concern, James North. The boy had green eyes like Harry Potter did, but his hair was dark brown, not black, and he wore glasses and appeared to be slightly shorter. The boy looked like an ordinary boy and was holding the hand of a girl who must be his twin sister. It looked as if the two siblings were very close.

Dumbledore decided that James wasn't much of a concern. He didn't look as if he would be a problem. Harry Potter was the one that needed to be watched.

Professor McGonagall led the first years up to the staff table, so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them. The hundreds of faces staring at them looked like pale lanterns in the flickering candlelight. Dotted here and there among the students, the ghosts shone misty silver. Mainly to avoid all the staring eyes, James looked upwards and saw a velvety black ceiling dotted with stars. He heard Hermione whisper to Neville, "The ceiling is bewitched to look like the sky outside, I read about it in_Hogwarts, a History_."

Though James had read the book, it was hard to believe there was a ceiling there at all, and that the Great Hall didn't simply open on to the heavens.

He quickly looked down again as Professor McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool she put a pointed wizard's hat. This hat was patched and frayed and extremely dirty.

For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth – and the hat began to sing a song about the four houses.

The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again.

Professor McGonagall now stepped forward, holding a long roll of parchment.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. "Abbott, Hannah!"

A pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of line, put on the hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down. A moment's pause – "HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat. The table second from the right clapped and cheered as Hannah went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table. James saw the ghost of the Fat Friar waving merrily at her.

Next was Susan Bones, who was Sorted into Hufflepuff. She scuttled off to sit next to Hannah. Terry Boot was third and he was Sorted into Ravenclaw. Mandy Brocklehurst went to Ravenclaw too, but Lavender Brown became the first new Gryffindor and the table on the far left exploded with cheers; James could see Ron's twin brothers catcalling.

Millicent Bulstrode, the large girl that had been in the same compartment as Darryl, then became a Slytherin. James wasn't at all surprised.

The Sorting continued. Sometimes the hat shouted out the house at once, but at others it took a little while to decide. Seamus Finnigan sat on the stool for almost a whole minute before the hat declared him a Gryffindor.

"Granger, Hermione!" Hermione almost ran to the stool and jammed the hat eagerly on her head. "GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the hat. James waved to Hermione as she sat down.

When Neville Longbottom was called, he fell over on his way to the stool. The hat took a long time to decide with him. When it finally shouted "GRYFFINDOR," Neville ran off still wearing it, and had to jog back amid gales of laughter to give it to Morag MacDougal.

The boy that Darryl was friendly with, Draco Malfoy, swaggered forward when his name was called and the hat had barely touched his head when it screamed, "SLYTHERIN!"

Malfoy sat down with Crabbe and Goyle, the two thickset boys that had been in the compartment with him, Darryl, and the girls, looking pleased with himself.

After someone with the surname of Moon had been Sorted, "North, Jadina," was called. Jade calmly made her way to the stool, set the hat on her head, and sat down.

"Hmm," said a small voice in her ear, "very few things perturb you, I see. You could fit in Ravenclaw, with your level head and intelligence. But you also have plenty of courage and are a very loyal person. So where should I put you?"

"Anywhere except Slytherin," thought Jade. "Though I would prefer to be in Gryffindor."

"Well, you would fit there. All right then, I will put you in – GRYFFINDOR!"

Jade heard the hat shout out the last word to the whole hall. She took off the hat, but didn't want towards the Gryffindor table. When Professor McGonagall asked what she was doing, Jade replied, "I want to see where my brother gets Sorted first, Professor."

Professor McGonagall raised her brow, but allowed Jade to remain and called, "North, James." Dumbledore looked at Jade, surprised by this. Twins normally would be close, but this was closer than expected. When the Weasley twins had been Sorted, Fred hadn't waited to see what house George was going to be Sorted in before sitting down.

James sat down on the stool and heard Jade whisper, "Good luck, I hope you get in Gryffindor too," as he placed the hat on his head.

"You're certainly close to your sister," remarked a small voice in his ear. "Though what's this? She's not really your twin, is she? You're adopted. And you're really Harry Potter."

James started and grew worried. He had forgotten that the Sorting Hat could see into your mind. Would the hat reveal his secret now?

There was a chuckle and the small voice said, "Don't worry, James North. I won't tell anyone who you really are. Student/Sorting Hat confidentiality, you know. Your secret is safe with me, and you will be known as James North until you decide to reveal the truth."

"Thank you," thought James, the rapid beating of his heart slowing down.

"You're welcome. Now, where do I place you? It's difficult. Very difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind, either. There's talent, oh my goodness, yes – and a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that's interesting … So where shall I put you?"

James gripped the edges of the stool and thought, "I want to be in Gryffindor with my sister and best friend, please, sir."

"Are you sure?" asked the voice. "You could be great, and Slytherin could be the better choice for you. No? Well, if you're sure – better be GRYFFINDOR!"

James heard the hat shout out the last word to the whole hall. He took off the hat and walked with Jade to the Gryffindor table. They sat down next to Hermione.

Theodore Nott and Pansy Parkinson went to Slytherin. Padma Patil was Sorted into Ravenclaw and her twin Parvati was Sorted into Gryffindor. After Sally-Anne Perks was Sorted, "Potter, Harry!" was called. As Darryl stepped forward, whispers suddenly broke out like little hissing fires all over the hall. "_Potter_, did she say?" "_The_ Harry Potter?"

James watched closely and saw Darryl give a start a few seconds later. It was clear that the Sorting Hat knew that Darryl was a fake, but wasn't going to say anything about it.

A few seconds later, the hat called out, "SLYTHERIN!" There was silence for several seconds as Darryl removed the hat and stood up. A teacher with greasy black hair, a hooked nose, and sallow skin looked surprised, then thoughtful.

Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson at the Slytherin table began clapping their hands and Millicent followed a beat later. A hissed instruction from Draco caused Crabbe and Goyle to start clapping as well. The other Slytherins slowly joined in. The students from the other tables began whispering about 'Harry Potter' being Sorted into Slytherin.

Jade, James, and Hermione exchanged looks. It didn't surprise them that the false Harry had gotten into Slytherin and they didn't see any good coming out of it.

Now there were only four people left to be sorted. Lisa Turpin became a Ravenclaw and Dean Thomas, a black boy that was taller than Ron, was Sorted into Gryffindor. Then it was Ron's turn. He was pale green by now. James crossed his fingers under the table and a second later the hat had shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!'

James and Jade clapped loudly with the rest as Ron collapsed in the chair next to Neville. "Well done, Ron, excellent," said Ron's brother, Percy, pompously as Blaise Zabini was made a Slytherin. McGonagall rolled up her scroll and took the Sorting Hat away.

Albus Dumbledore got to his feet. He was beaming at the students, his arms opened wide, as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all there.

"Welcome," he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begun our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!" He sat back down. Everyone clapped and cheered. James didn't know whether to laugh or not and exchanged a bewildered look with Jade, who shrugged.

"Is he – a bit mad?" he asked Percy, who was sitting across from him, uncertainly.

"Mad?" answered Percy airily. "He's a genius! Best wizard in the world! But he is a bit mad, yes. Potatoes, James?"

James's mouth fell open. The dishes in front of him were now piled with food. He had never seen so many things he liked to eat on one table: roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled and roast potatoes, chips, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup, and, for some reason, mint humbugs.

James always had enough to eat at home, but he had never had a wide variety of foods appear in front of him. He piled his plate with a bit of everything except the humbugs and bacon (which his mum never served for health reasons) and began to eat. It was delicious.

"That does look good," said the ghost in the ruff sadly, watching James cut up his steak.

"Can't you –?"

"I haven't eaten for nearly five hundred years," said the ghost. "I don't need to, of course, but one does miss it. I don't think I've introduced myself? Sir Nicolas de Mimsy-Porpington at your service. Resident ghost of Gryffindor tower."

"I know who you are!" said Ron suddenly. "My brothers told me about you – you're Nearly Headless Nick!"

"I would _prefer_ you to call me Sir Nicolas de Mimsy – " but Seamus interrupted.

"_Nearly_ Headless? How can you be _nearly_ headless?"

Sir Nicolas looked extremely miffed, as if their chat wasn't going the way he wanted.

"Like _this_," he said irritably. He seized his left ear and pulled. His whole head swung off his neck and fell on to his shoulder as if it was on a hinge. Someone had obviously tried to behead him, but had not done it properly. Looking pleased at the stunned looks on their faces, Nearly Headless Nick flipped his head back on to his neck, coughed, and said, "So – new Gryffindors! I hope you're going to help us win the house championship this year? Gryffindor has never gone so long without winning. Slytherin have got the cup six years in a row. The Bloody Baron's becoming almost unbearable – he's the Slytherin ghost."

James looked over at the Slytherin table and saw a horrible ghost sitting there, with blank staring eyes, a gaunt face, and robes stained with silver blood. He was next to Darryl who, James was pleased to see, didn't look too pleased with the seating arrangements.

"How did he get covered in blood?" asked Seamus with great interest.

"I've never asked," said Nearly Headless Nick delicately.

When everyone had eaten as much as they could, the remains of the food faded from the plates, leaving them sparkling clean as before. A moment later, the puddings speared. Blocks of ice cream in every flavor you could think of, apple pies, treacle tarts, chocolate éclairs and jam doughnuts, trifle, strawberries, jelly, rice pudding …

As James helped himself to a treacle tart, the talk turned to their families.

"I'm half and half," said Seamus. "Me dad's a Muggle. Mam didn't tell him she was a witch 'til after they were married. Bit of a nasty shock for him." The others laughed.

"What about you, Neville?" asked Parvati.

Neville told what he had said on the train, about being raised by his gran, who was a witch, and how his Great Uncle Algie kept trying to force magic out of him. Hermione said that she was Muggleborn, then began talking with Percy Weasley about lessons. Jade said that she and James could technically be considered Muggleborns, for their parents were Muggleborns. James nodded in agreement and then looked up at the High Table.

Hagrid was drinking deeply from his goblet. Professor McGonagall was talking to Professor Dumbledore. A teacher wearing an absurd turban on his head was talking to the hook-nosed teacher.

The hook-nosed teacher happened to look past the turban straight into James's eyes. The turbaned teacher turned slightly to see what the other teacher was looking at. A sharp, hot pain shot across the hidden scar on James's forehead.

"Ouch!" exclaimed James, clapping a hand to his head.

Jade looked at him in concern and Percy asked, "What is it?"

"N-nothing." The pain had gone as quickly as it had come. "Who is the teacher with the turban?" James asked Percy. "And who's the teacher next to him."

"The one with the turban is Professor Quirrell," responded Percy. "He teaches Defense Against Dark Arts. No wonder he looks nervous, the other teacher is Professor Snape. He's the Head of Slytherin and teaches Potions, but he doesn't want to – everyone knows he's after Quirrell's job. Knows an awful lot about the Dark Arts, Snape."

James watched Snape and Quirrell for a while, but they didn't look at him again.

At last, the puddings too disappeared and Professor Dumbledore got to his feet again. The hall fell silent. "Ahem – just a few more words now we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give to you.

"First years should not that the forest in the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well."

Dumbledore's twinkling eyes flashed in the direction of the Weasley twins.

"I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors.

"Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch.

"And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."

James laughed, but he was one of the few who did. "He's not serious?" he muttered.

"Must be," said Percy, frowning at Dumbledore. "It's odd, because he usually gives us a reason why we're not allowed to go somewhere – the forest's full of dangerous breasts, everyone knows that. I do think he might have told us prefects, at least."

"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" cried Dumbledore. James noticed that the other teachers' smiles had become rather fixed.

Dumbledore gave his wand a little flick as if he was trying to get a fly off the end and a long golden ribbon flew out of it, which rose high above the tables and twisted itself snake-like into words. "Everyone pick their favorite tune," he said, "and off we go!"

Jade invented a tune to go with the words, while James sang the school song to the tune of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. Everyone finished the song at different times. At last, only the Weasley twins were left singing along to a very slow funeral march. Dumbledore conducted their last few lines with his wand and when they had finished, he was one of those who clapped the loudest. "Ah, music," he said, wiping his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"

The Gryffindor first years followed Percy through the chattering crowds, out of the Great Hall and up the marble staircase. In a whisper, James told Jade and Hermione about how his scar had hurt for an instant when Snape and Quirrell had looked at him.

The two girls looked concerned, but didn't know why James's scar had hurt.

Suddenly, they came to a halt. A bundle of walking sticks was floating in mid-air ahead of them and as Percy took a step towards them they started throwing themselves at him.

It turned out to be Peeves the Poltergeist and he only left when Percy threatened to go to the Bloody Baron, dropping the sticks on poor Neville's head. Percy warned them about Peeves and they continued on their way.

At the very end of the corridor hung a portrait of a very fat woman in a pink silk dress.

"Password?" she asked.

"Caput Draconis," said Percy, and the portrait swung forward to reveal a round hole in the wall. They all scrambled through it – Neville needed a leg up – and found themselves in the Gryffindor common room, a cozy, round room full of squashy armchairs.

Percy directed the girls through one door to their dormitory and the boys through another. James bid Jade and Hermione good night and followed Ron and Neville up. At the top of a spiral staircase – they were obviously in one of the towers – they found their beds at last; five four-posters hung with deep-red velvet curtains. Their trunks had already been brought up. Too tired to talk much, they pulled on their pajamas and fell into bed.

"Great food, isn't it?" Ron muttered to James and Neville through the hangings. "Get_off_, Scabbers! He's chewing my sheets.

James had been planning to write a letter to his mother, but he was so tired that he decided to do it the next morning and fell asleep almost at once. He had a dream that he had before, where there was a high-pitched laugh and a burst of green light. This time, however, there was a woman screaming before the laugh, and the green light followed with big hands picking him up and then a flying motorcycle. When he woke the next morning, however, he didn't remember the dream at all.


	6. Classes

James woke up early the next morning and began writing the letter to his mother.

"_Dear Mum,_

_Everything is fine. After the train had left the platform, Darryl Anton came in and asked to sit with us. But when he found out that Hermione was Muggleborn, he called her the offensive term for Muggleborns. Jade and I were mad and told him to leave. Darryl said he didn't want to sit with a couple of, well, the 'm' word and left. _

_Two boys named Neville Longbottom and Ron Weasley sat with us and we're becoming friends with them. Ron joined us a couple of minutes after Darryl had left. He said that he'd ran into Darryl and that he had called Ron a blood traitor just because he was a Weasley. Neville lost his toad halfway through the train ride and we all helped him look for it. While asking around if anyone had seen the toad, we came across Darryl sitting with three other boys and two girls that all ended up being sorted into Slytherin. It came as no surprise to me or Jade when Darryl was sorted into Slytherin too._

_Anyway, Jade, Hermione, and I got into Gryffindor, and so did Neville and Ron. The Sorting Hat discovered who I really was, but said he wouldn't reveal my secret due to student/hat confidentiality. I'm pretty sure it also knows that Darryl isn't who he says he is, but it's not going to say anything because of the confidentiality thing. _

_Oh, during dessert, Professors Snape and Quirrell, the Potions and Defense teachers, happened to glance at me. When they did, my scar hurt, but only for an instant. The pain disappeared a second later. This really puzzled me. I told Jade and Hermione about it, but they don't know why my scar hurt, either. Do you have any ideas about it, Mum?_

_I miss you, but I'm also very excited about the classes starting today and learning magic. Well, except for History of Magic. From what you told us about Professor Binns, I'd be better off just reading the book and taking notes than struggling to pay attention to his lectures. I hope everything is fine for you. I love you, Mum._

_Your loving son,_

_James_

James folded up the letter and went to the bathroom to shower and brush his teeth. After he had gotten dressed, he went down to the common room. Jade was finishing her letter to their mother, and Mulan was in her lap, being stroked and petted with the other hand.

"Good morning, James," said Jade, looking up. "I'm almost done with this. We can send it off with Hedwig in a couple of minutes."

James took a seat next to Jade. "You don't have to tell Mum about –" he looked around to make sure nobody could hear them, and then in a whisper, "my scar hurting."

Jade laid down her quill and looked up, startled. "Why? Mum should know about it."

"You don't have to tell Mum, because I already wrote about it in my letter."

"Oh! Okay then. I'll just end this letter now." Jade finished the letter and folded it up. A second-year girl named Katie Bell gave them directions to the Owlery.

Hedwig flew down from a perch the minute the 'twins' entered. "Hello, girl," said James, stroking Hedwig's feathers. Jade offered an owl treat.

After a minute, the two letters were tied to Hedwig's leg. "Deliver this to our mum, OK?" asked Jade. Hedwig nipped James and Jade's index fingers gently and then flew away.

They then went down to the Great Hall for breakfast. When they reached the entrance hall, they saw Darryl coming up from the Slytherin common room, which presumably was somewhere in the dungeons. Malfoy was talking to him and right behind them walked Crabbe and Goyle, looking like their bodyguards.

Several students began whispering and the whispers were along the lines of pointing out the fake Harry Potter and asking others if they'd seen the scar. James gritted his teeth and resisted the urge to shout that Darryl was a fake. While it would be satisfying to unmask the boy and have everyone stop fussing over the fake, it wasn't worth it. All the attention would then be on James, and he most certainly did not want that.

"I hate this!" whispered Jade fiercely. "Honestly, I just want to hex Darryl, then tell the rest that he's a fake. You're the one that's Harry Potter, not him!"

"Shut up!" hissed James, but it was too late. Fred and George Weasley had come up behind them and heard what Jade had said.

They exchanged looks, then said quietly, "We would like a word with you two."

Once in an empty classroom, Fred said, "You sound very certain that James is really Harry Potter and that the other boy is a fake and is really Darryl, Jade."

"And you told her to shut up, James," continued George. "Please explain that."

James sighed and said, "Do you swear to never reveal what we are about to tell you?"

Fred and George exchanged looks, then said, "We solemnly swear to keep your secret."

"OK, I'm really Harry Potter," said James. "My aunt and uncle apparently didn't want to keep me, so left me on a random doorstep. Jade's mother, a Muggleborn witch, found me and adopted me. For safety reasons, my name was changed to James North and my birthday was made the same as Jade's, July 25th. So, for most of my life I've gone by my middle name and believed that I was Jade's twin brother."

"Mum told us the truth on our birthdays, just before we got our Hogwarts letters," said Jade. "We know for a fact that Darryl Anton is not really Harry Potter, but we're not planning to unmask him. And we ask that you guys don't, either. Just keep this quiet."

"You can count on us," said George. "We won't tell anyone the truth."

Fred looked slightly skeptical. "How do we know you're not making this up?"

James dispelled the glamour, revealing his hair to be really black. He the lifted his bangs, showing the lightning-shaped scar. "Does this prove that I'm the real Harry Potter?"

Fred nodded. "It does. And don't worry about our telling anyone."

James resumed the glamour and looked at Jade, who said, "You'd better not. From what Ron said about you two, you're tricksters and like to pull pranks and stuff."

"Just because we're pranksters doesn't mean we can't be trusted," said George.

"Besides, what you're doing could be seen as a prank," pointed out Fred. "The real Harry Potter is right under everyone's noses and they don't even know it!"

James could see how it could be considered a prank. "Okay, then. Let's go to breakfast."

After breakfast and on the way to Transfiguration, James said to Hermione, "Fred and George Weasley know my secret. They overheard Jade saying that she wanted to hex Darryl and tell everyone that he was fake, and that I was Harry, not him."

Hermione's eyes widened. "Oh no! What did Fred and George do?"

"We spoke with them in an empty classroom and they promised to keep it a secret," said Jade. "And James removed the glamour to prove he was who he said he was."

"I hope they keep their promise," said Hermione, and then the subject was closed.

Transfiguration class began a few minutes later, James had been quite right to think that Professor McGonagall wasn't a teacher to cross. Strict and clever, she gave them a talking to the moment they had all sat down in her first class. "Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts," she said. "Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned."

Then she changed her desk into a pig and back again. They were very impressed and couldn't wait to get started, but soon realized they weren't going to be changing the furniture into animals for a long time. After making a lot of complicated notes, they were each given a match and started trying to turn it into a needle.

James was able to turn his match a silver color with pointy tip, but it was still made of wood and had no eye. Ron turned his match into the metal of a needle, but it still had the thickness and shape of a match, complete with a red tip. Neville turned the match into the thickness of a needle with a pointy tip, but otherwise looked like a match. Hermione and Jade were the only ones to successfully turn their matches into needles. McGonagall showed the class how well they had done and gave them a rare smile and five points.

Charms was better for James. Professor Flitwick, the teacher and Head of Ravenclaw, was a tiny little wizard who had to stand on a pile of books to see over his desk. Jade said that he probably had a dash of goblin ancestry. The first class they learned a charm to lighten objects. James mastered the charm and was awarded five points.

Every Wednesday at midnight was Astronomy class, taught by Professor Sinistra. Three times a week they went out to the greenhouses behind the castle to study Herbology, with a dumpy little witch called Professor Sprout, who was also the Head of Hufflepuff. They learnt how to take care of all the strange plants and fungi and found out what they were used for. Neville shone in that class, proving Herbology to be his forte.

Easily the most boring lesson was History of Magic, which was the only class taught by a ghost. Professor Binns had been very old indeed when he had fallen asleep in front of the staff room fire and got up next morning to teach, leaving his body behind him. James had a hard time paying attention and spent the time reading the textbook and taking notes or playing naughts and crosses with Ron. Jade and Hermione were the only ones that were able to pay any attention to Professor Binns and take notes on his boring lectures.

The class everyone had really been looking forward to was Defense Against the Dark Arts, but Quirrell's lessons turned out to be a bit of a joke. His classroom smelled strongly of garlic, which everyone said was to ward off a vampire he'd met in Romania and was afraid would be coming back to get him one of these days. His turban, he told them, had been given to him by an African prince as a thank-you for getting rid of a troublesome zombie, but they weren't sure they believed this story. For one thing, when Seamus Finnigan asked eagerly to hear how Quirrell had fought the zombie, Quirrell went pink and started talking about the weather; for another, they noticed that a funny smell hung around the turban, and the Weasley twins insisted that it was stuffed full of garlic as well, so that Quirrell was protected wherever he went.

Unfortunately, James, Jade, and Hermione managed to get on the wrong side of Filch the caretaker on the second day of term. Filch found them trying to force their way through a door which unluckily turned out to be the entrance to the out-of-bounds corridor on the third floor. He wouldn't believe that they were lost, was sure they were trying to break into it on purpose and was threatening to lock them in the dungeons when they were rescued by Professor Quirrell, who was passing.

Friday was an important day for James, Jade, and their friends. They finally managed to find their way down to the Great Hall for breakfast without getting lost once.

"What have we got today?" James asked as he poured sugar on his porridge.

"Double Potions with the Slytherins," answered Ron. "Snape's Head of Slytherin House. They say he always favors them – we'll be able to see if it's true."

"Wish McGonagall favored is," said James. Being head of Gryffindor hadn't stopped Professor McGonagall from giving them a huge pile of homework the day before.

Just then, the post arrived. Hedwig arrived with a package and note from Mrs. North. Jade relieved Hedwig of her burden, who then had bit of James's toast before flying off again. Jade opened the package, which turned out to contain two journals. The note said that the two could communicate to each other via the journals.

The two put the journals away and finished their breakfast. After Herbology, they went to their first Potions lesson, which took place in one of the dungeons. It was colder here than up in the main castle and would have been quite creepy enough without the pickled animals floating in glass jars all around the walls.

Snape, like Flitwick, started the class by taking the register, and he paused at Harry's name. "Ah, yes," he said softly. "Harry Potter. Our new – _celebrity_." Apparently Snape had a hatred for 'Harry Potter' that warred with his tendency to favor Slytherins.

Ron stifled a snigger. Other than the Slytherins, most of the other students didn't like the false Harry at all when they saw how rude and arrogant he was much of the time.

Snape finished calling the names and looked up at the class. His eyes were black like Hagrid's, but they had none of Hagrid's warmth. They were cold and empty and made you think of dark tunnels.

"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making," he began. He spoke in barely more than a whisper, but they caught every word – like McGonagall, Snape had the gift of keeping a class silent without effort. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses ... I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death – if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."

More silence followed this little speech. James and Ron exchanged looks with raised eyebrows. Hermione was on the edge of her seat and looked desperate to start proving that she wasn't a dunderhead.

"Potter!" said Snape suddenly. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Darryl calmly replied, "A sleeping potion known as the Draught of Living Death, sir."

Snape looked slightly taken aback. "Correct, Mr. Potter. Can you tell me where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"

"I believe you would find the stone in a stomach of a goat, sir," responded Darryl. "Oh, and it can save you from most poisons, Professor."

"Correct," said Snape. "What is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?"

"There is no difference, Professor," answered Darryl. "Monkshood and wolfsbane are the same plant, which is also known by the name of aconite, sir."

"Five points to Slytherin," said Snape grudgingly. He then turned his attention to the rest of the class. "Well? Why aren't you all copying that down?"

There was a sudden rummaging for quills and parchment. Once everyone had copied that down, Snape put them all into pairs and set them to mixing up a simple potion to cure boils. He swept around in his long black cloak, watching them weigh dried nettles and crush snake fangs, criticizing almost everyone except Malfoy, whom he seemed to like.

No mishaps occurred, though Jade stopped Neville from adding the porcupine quills too early just in time. James and Hermione had been paired together and Snape didn't criticize their work, mainly because there was nothing for him to complain about. However, he didn't compliment them on their work like he did with Malfoy.

When class ended, James, Jade, and their friends decided to visit Hagrid. Mrs. North had said that she had been friends with the gamekeeper while at school, and the 'twins' were eager to get to know Hagrid and be on friendly terms with him.

At three o'clock they went to see Hagrid, but when they got there, they saw Darryl and Malfoy. Darryl was saying coldly, "Thank you for inviting me to tea, but I have no desire to hang out with a big oaf like you. And I don't want to hear you tell stories about my parents. They got themselves killed for joining the wrong side. Larry is my father now."

Malfoy smirked, while Hagrid looked shocked. "But I was th' one that took you from your parents' house, Harry! An' I took yeh to yer relatives' house on Dumbledore's orders. I didn' want ter leave yeh with Muggles, but Dumbledore insisted. Lucky fer yeh, they decided not ter keep yeh and left yeh with a wizard."

"I don't care what you did on Dumbledore's orders," snapped Darryl. "You're a big oaf and idiot and I have no intention of associating with you. I only came down here to tell you so and that I don't want to have tea with you. Come, Draco."

Darryl and Draco turned and left, leaving Hagrid to stare at them in shock. A minute later, Jade, James, and their friends stepped forward. They introduced themselves and Hagrid happily invited them inside for some tea.

Hagrid remembered Stuart and Sylvia Elliot North, and was quite pleased to meet their twin children. He was able to tell a couple of stories about Jade's father. As he talked, he poured tea and set out a plate of rock cakes.

Hagrid's cooking wasn't that great, for the rock cakes ended up being as hard as rocks. However, the five of them pretended to enjoy them as they listened to Hagrid talk and then told him about their first lessons. Fang the boarhound rested his head on James's knee and drooled all over his robes.

They were quite delighted to hear Hagrid call Filch the caretaker 'that old git.'

"An' as her that cat, Mrs. Norris, I'd like ter introduce her to Fang some time. D'yeh know, every time I go up ter the school, she follows me everywhere? Can't get rid of her – Filch puts her up to it." He then asked Ron about his brother Charlie.

While Ron told all about Charlie's work with dragons, James picked up a piece of paper that was lying on the table under the tea cozy. It was a cutting from the _Daily Prophet._ It was about investigations continuing into the break-in at Gringotts, which had occurred on James's real birthday and the day his family and the Grangers had bought school things.

James nudged Hermione and Jade and showed them the article. Their eyes widened. He remembered that Hagrid had been at Gringotts, with a letter from Dumbledore, regarding something in vault 713. What if the letter had orders for Hagrid to remove the something? If he had removed it, then did that mean Hagrid had collected the package just in time?

When they returned to the castle for dinner, James told Ron and Neville about the article and his thoughts on it. While they were curious as to what the 'you-know-what' was and where it could be now, they didn't dwell on the subject for very long. James and Jade decided not to focus too much on it either, and they entered the Great Hall.

A/N: Elspeth25 and Lady Alianne wanted someone to find out the truth, and debated between the Weasley twins and Neville. Finally we decided on the twins. Having Harry Potter right under everyone's noses without their knowing would appeal to the twins' sense of humor and pranking, and they are trustworthy people. Neville and Ron will know the truth, but not at this point in time.


	7. Flying Class

James and Jade were having problems with Darryl and Malfoy. Darryl acted rude and arrogant except in classes, where he was always polite to the teachers. This irked James greatly. He didn't really mind Darryl pretending to be Harry Potter, but he did mind Darryl's behavior. Except for the Slytherins, the other students were mostly put off by his manner. A few students tried to find excuses for Darryl's behavior, with little success.

On Monday, Darryl snapped to Hermione, "Get out of my way, Mudblood."

Next to him, Malfoy smirked and added, "You're polluting the air he breathes."

Hermione's eyes glittered with anger, but James spoke before she could. "How dare you insult Hermione! She's a million times better than you two."

"Ooh, the bushy-haired girl has a _boyfriend_," said Darryl mockingly.

Hermione and James both turned scarlet. Jade snapped, "Oh, please do everyone a favor and shut up! You know, I'm starting to think that you're not really Harry Potter. The real Harry wouldn't be so rude or act like the way Voldemort would probably act."

Darryl turned red and his eyes widened slightly in nervousness. Malfoy retorted, "Don't talk about Harry Potter that way! He's a much better wizard than you."

"No he's not!" snapped Neville, who then looked surprised by his outburst. However, he bravely continued, "I think Jade's right about Harry not really being Harry."

"But maybe Harry was just brought up wrong," suggested Ron, but he didn't look very convinced. In fact, he looked very annoyed with Darryl.

James stood right in front of Darryl and in a low voice that only the two of them could hear, said, "I believe you're a fraud. I have no intention of telling on you, but you'd better clean up your act or I might be strongly tempted to go to Dumbledore."

Darryl glared at him. "You can't prove that I'm not Harry Potter." He then looked at Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle. "Let's go and leave these losers."

As they left, other students that had been in the corridor began talking about the confrontation. They were all disgusted by the fake Harry, though a couple of those that were Muggleborn first had to ask their friends what 'mudblood' meant. When they found out, they became angry. A few students also began wondering if Jade might be on the right track about this Harry Potter being a fake.

That evening, the confrontation was driven out of James's head when he saw a notice regarding flying lessons hung in the Gryffindor common room. He became very excited about flying and couldn't wait for the first lesson on Thursday.

"Flying is nice, but we have the class with the Slytherins," pointed out Jade.

James excitement was slightly dampened at the thought of having to put up with Malfoy and Darryl for another class. It was already bad enough having to see them in Potions.

Neville wasn't excited, but rather nervous about the flying lessons. His grandmother had never let him on a broom before. James privately thought that she had good reason, for Neville managed to have a number of accidents even when his feet were on the ground.

Hermione was almost as nervous as Neville. Flying wasn't something that could be learned out of a book, not that she hadn't tried. On Thursday at breakfast, she bored them all silly with flying tips she got out of a library book titled _Quidditch Through the Ages_. Everyone was quite relieved when the mail arrived, interrupting her.

Hedwig dropped a letter from Mrs. North, saying that she had quit her job as a waitress and had gotten a job working in Magical Law Enforcement, a department in the Ministry. She had decided to finally be part of the wizarding world again, and she had worked at the Ministry for a couple of years right after she had graduated from Hogwarts.

Jade quickly wrote a note congratulating her mother on the new job and after she and James signed it, sent it off with Hedwig. Then they saw Neville unwrapping a small package from his grandmother. He showed it to his friends, explaining that it was Remembrall and would turn red if he forgot something. As he spoke, the ball turned red. Neville began trying to remember what it was he had forgotten.

Darryl, Draco, and their goons Crabbe and Goyle turned up then. Darryl snatched the Remembrall from Neville's hand, looked at it, and then handed it to Draco.

"Give that back!" exclaimed James, shooting to his feet. Ron got to his feet also, the two of them half-hoping for an excuse to fight Darryl and Draco. Professor McGonagall, who could spot trouble faster than any other teacher in the school, was there in a flash, though.

"What is going on?" she asked severely, frowning at the tableau.

"Draco Malfoy has my Remembrall, Professor," responded Neville.

With a scowl, Malfoy dropped the ball on the table. "I was just looking," he muttered. He, Darryl, Crabbe, and Goyle turned and left the Great Hall.

That afternoon, the first year Gryffindors walked outside to the Quidditch Pitch. It was sunny, clear, and breezy, perfect flying conditions. The Slytherins were already on the pitch, and so were twenty brooms laid out in two lines.

Madam Hooch, the flying instructor, came striding out the pitch and ordered everyone to stand next to a broom. She had them hold out a hand over their broom and say, "Up!"

James's broom flew into his hand at once, and Jade's broom followed a beat later. However, theirs were only two of the few that did. Hermione's broom simply rolled on the ground, while Neville's broom didn't move at all. Perhaps brooms, like horses, could tell when you were frightened and there was a quaver in Neville's voice that said he wanted to keep his feet firmly on the ground.

Once everyone was holding a broom, Madam Hooch showed the class how to mount. James was pleased to see her correct Malfoy's grip, saying he was doing it wrong. Darryl looked slightly unsure about things, as if he, like Neville, hadn't flown before.

Madam Hooch then explained how to kick off and started to count backwards from three to ready them to fly. However, Neville, scared and nervous about being left behind, took off before she could reach 'one' and blow her whistle.

"Come back boy!" shouted Madam Hooch, but Neville couldn't. Jade could see Neville's scared, white face as the broom flew higher and higher. Without even stopping to think, she took off on her broom and went after Neville.

Madam Hooch shouted for her to come back, but Jade ignored her. James decided to join Jade and together the two of them managed to grab onto Neville just as he fell off from his broom. Jade pulled Neville in front of her on the broom and began flying down. The Remembrall fell from Neville's pocket and James went in a dive after it.

A foot from the ground, he caught the ball and pulled himself up. As he jumped off, he saw that the other Gryffindors looked impressed, while the Slytherins looked annoyed.

Madam Hooch hurried over to them. "All you are right?" she asked Neville. After ascertaining that he was okay, she turned to Jade and James. "You two shouldn't have taken off like that without permission. Five points from Gryffindor. However, your flying was impressive, and the two of you did rescue Mr. Longbottom. So ten points each."

Darryl and Draco did not at all pleased to hear this. They began whispering to each other.

After the flying lesson, Professor McGonagall called James and Jade into her office. A burly fifth-year boy was with her.

"Madam Hooch told me what happened during the lesson and about your flying," said McGonagall. "Anyway, this is Oliver Wood, captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. From what Madam Hooch said, you would make an excellent Seeker, James North. The Gryffindor team happens to need a Seeker and you would be an excellent candidate. As for you, Jadina North, you could probably make a good reserve Seeker or Chaser."

Oliver looked excited and regarded the 'twins'. "James does have the build for a Seeker. And Jadina could be a decent Chaser or Seeker. They'll need decent brooms, though."

"Good," said McGonagall. "Tonight the two of you will meet Wood on the pitch and he will test out your Quidditch skills. If you make it as Seeker, Mr. North, I will speak to Dumbledore about bending the first year rule. Heaven knows, we need a better team than last year. _Flattened_ in that last match against Slytherin. I couldn't look Severus Snape in the face for weeks." She smiled at James and Jade. "You know, your father would be proud of the two of you. He was Keeper on the Gryffindor team when he was at school."

------------------------------------

"You're _joking_."

It was dinnertime. James and Jade had just finished telling Ron, Neville, and Hermione about what had happened in McGonagall's office. Ron had a piece of steak and kidney pie halfway to his mouth, but he'd forgotten about it.

"_Seeker_?" he said. "But first years _never_ – you must be the youngest house player in –"

" – a century," finished James. "Wood told me. But I'll only become Seeker after he tests my flying skills after dinner and he deems me worthy."

"What about you, Jade?" asked Neville.

"If I'm better than James, then I'll be Seeker and he'll be the reserve," replied Jade. "If not, then I'll be the reserve Seeker. Or perhaps Chaser, if I'm better at that. I won't be full Chaser, though, because the three Chaser spots are already filled."

"Don't tell anyone though, guys," said James. "Wood wants to keep it a secret."

Fred and George turned up then to congratulate James and Jade, adding that they were Beaters on the team, and therefore had been told by Wood. The twins then left, saying something about their friend Lee Jordan finding a new secret passageway out the school.

The Weasley twins had just gone when Darryl and Draco turned up, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle. "Think you two are so great?" sneered Darryl. "You're just show-offs."

"We were only rescuing Neville," said James coldly. "Now please go away."

"No," said Malfoy. "We'll prove to you that you and your stupid sister aren't so great."

"Don't call Jade names!" snapped James, furious. There were times when he wouldn't stand up for himself, but anyone who insulted or hurt Jade would cause his ire.

"I can defend myself," said Jade calmly. "For your information, Draco Malfoy, I'm not stupid. I'm currently tied with Hermione as top of all our subjects, except Herbology, which Neville is the top student in and we are only second."

"Well, if you're so smart, then prove it," said Darryl, glaring at them. "Draco and I challenge you and your brother to a wizard's duel. Tonight if you like. Wands only – no contact. Crabbe and Goyle will be our seconds. Who are yours?"

"Me," said Ron at once. "I'm James's second."

Hermione looked disapproving, but said, "And I'm Jade's second."

"Fine," said Malfoy. "Midnight all right? We'll meet you in the trophy room, that's always unlocked."

When they had gone, Hermione demanded, "What were you guys thinking?"

"Well, I don't know about James or Ron, but I was thinking of not going," said Jade in a calm tone of voice. Ron and James started to protest, but Jade interrupted them. "I would bet all my possessions that Darryl and Draco have no intention of showing up. Knowing them, they'll just tip off Filch or a teacher to try to get us in trouble."

"I think you're right," said James, sighing. "Okay, we don't show up for the duel then."

After dinner, James and Jade went out to the pitch with school brooms. The entire Gryffindor team was waiting on the pitch. Oliver Wood tried out Jade first, in the capacity of a Chaser. She flew quite well and was very good at passing. The Chasers, Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet, and Katie Bell, looked impressed. She only scored two goals, but that was mainly due to fact that Wood was an excellent Keeper. By the time she was done, Wood said she would definitely be made a reserve Chaser.

James was next and caught each of the gold balls the team members threw, because it was getting too dark to use the Snitch. Wood looked as if he could hug James by the end and declared him Seeker as once. Jade then tried out. She didn't do as well as James, missing two of the golf balls. However, she wasn't bad, and was made reserve Seeker too.

The team then trooped up the castle, Wood telling James that practices would start next week. Jade didn't have to attend all the practices, because she was only a reserve, but Wood said that it would be a good idea if she attended anyway.

A few minutes later, Jade wrote a letter to her mother, telling her the news. The next day, Mrs. North sent a reply, saying that she would write to McGonagall and arrange for their brooms. James and Jade looked delighted with the news.

Darryl and Draco were surprised, then sour, when they saw James and Jade at breakfast, looking cheerful and with no sign of having gotten into trouble. This confirmed that the two Slytherins hadn't planned to show up for the duel. Jade waved cheerily at them and Darryl scowled and Draco glared at them. Ron choked on his laughter at this.

After breakfast, Jade, James, and their friends left for class.

A/N: For those who are wondering, Darryl does not have access to the Potter fortune. Dumbledore is not about to hand over the vault key with the way the boy is behaving. And if Darryl went to Gringotts, the goblins would first do a blood test or something similar to prove if he's Harry Potter or not. Obviously, he be shown to be a fake, and Darryl and his father won't want that. If Dumbledore decides to give up the Cloak despite his dislike of the fake Harry's behavior, James will end up with it instead. Mrs. North would do a spell to ensure the real Harry Potter gets mail delivered to Harry Potter. (Except for Hogwarts letters)


	8. Halloween

On Wednesday at breakfast, six owls bearing a long package flew in and landed on the table in front of James, narrowly missing knocking over his cup of milk. Another owl dropped a short letter on top of the package. James opened the letter first, which was lucky, for the very first line told him not to open the package on the table. It went on to say that the package contained James' new Nimbus Two Thousand, but Professor McGonagall didn't want the other students to know or they'd want brooms also. It ended with telling James to report for practice that evening and McGonagall's signature.

James handed the note to Ron so his friends could read it just as Hedwig turned up with a letter. Jade removed the letter and with James, began reading it. It was from their mother.

_Dear James and Jade,  
Congratulations again for making the Gryffindor team. James, Professor McGonagall and I have arranged for you to have a Nimbus Two Thousand. I hope you like the broom, for it's the best one available in the market right now._

_Jade, unfortunately I cannot get you a broom at the moment, for as you are only a reserve, you are not exempt from the first-year rule of not having brooms. Also, the only broom I can afford to get you now would be a Shooting Star or some other rubbish broom. However, I believe I can get you an excellent broom for Christmas. You will simply have to use a school broom during practices and borrow James's broom if you have to substitute for him in a match._

_In answer to your question of a secret place to work on Defense since Professor Quirrell isn't a very good teacher, there is the Room of Requirement. It is also known as the Come and Go Room among the Hogwarts house elves. I found this room in my second year of school when I needed to hide from Filch. (I had set off a dung bomb in his office and he was looking for the culprit. And don't you dare get any ideas from this. Just because I played a few pranks on Filch when I was your age doesn't mean that you can.) Anyway, I returned the next day to look for it but couldn't find it again. Later I asked one of the house elves, who explained the room to me. It only appears when you have need of it and then disappears when you no longer do._

_Go up to the seventh floor, opposite the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy trying to train trolls for ballet. Walk back and forth in front of the wall three times, thinking of what you need. (In your case, a secret place to work on spells and study). A door will appear and you can go in. You can arrange it so nobody else or only certain people can come in. Make good use if the room, dears, and do your best in schoolwork and Quidditch. I love you both very much.  
Your loving mother,  
Sylvia North_

After making sure that nobody else was listening, James and Jade told their friends about the Room of Requirement in a whisper. Ron was very interested to hear about the room, while Hermione was more excited about what it could provide to help them with their studies. She was particularly excited at the books on Defense and such the room would provide for them without having to go to the library and waste time searching for the books. Neville was more reserved, but he was also quite interested in the Room of Requirement.

When they left the Great Hall minutes later so James could put his new broom away. Darryl and Malfoy, with their two goons, appeared. Malfoy seized the package from James and felt it.

"That's a broomstick," he said, throwing it back to James with a mixture of jealousy and spite on his face. "You'll be in for it this time, North, first-years aren't allowed them."

Ron couldn't resist it.  
"It's not any old broomstick," he said, "It's a Nimbus Two Thousand. What did you say you've got at home, Malfoy, a Comet Two Sixty?" Ron grinned at James. "Comets look flashy, but they're not in the same league as the Nimbus."

"What would you know about it, Weasley, you couldn't afford half the handle," Malfoy snapped back. "I suppose you and your brothers have to save up, twig by twig."

Before Ron could answer, Professor Flitwick appeared at Malfoy's elbow. "Not arguing, I hope, boys?" he squeaked.

"North's been sent a broomstick, Professor," said Darryl quickly.

"Yes, yes, that's right," said Professor Flitwick beaming at James "Professor McGonagall told me all about the special circumstances, Mr. North. And what model is it?"

"A Nimbus Two Thousand, sir," said James, fighting not to laugh at the look of horror on Malfoy and Darryl's faces.

Hermione stifled a giggle, while Jade smirked at the Slytherin boys. The five of them then trooped up to the common room, smothering their laughter at Darryl and Malfoy's rage. Once in the common room, they spent a few minutes admiring the broom. Then James put it away in his trunk and they headed for Transfiguration.

That afternoon, after their last class, the five of them headed for the seventh floor and began pacing back and forth in front of the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy. On their third time, a door appeared on the wall and they went inside. Behind them, the door shut and then locked. They gazed about in wonder.

In the center of the room was a cleared space that they could practice spells in, with several pillows surrounding the area. Against the walls were four bookcases, filled with books on Defense Against the Dark Arts and general spells. There were also a large table with six chairs that they could use when they were doing homework, and a cupboard with extra writing materials. Finally there was another table with some strange objects. A couple Jade recognized as being objects used for the detection of Dark Arts for she'd seen pictures of them in a book. The room was completely perfect for their needs.

Hermione and Jade went directly to the bookcases to examine the books, while James and Neville examined the Dark Detectors. Ron poked the pillows and walked around the room a bit before joining James and Neville. After awhile, Jade selected a book and they decided to practice the first Defensive spell they opened to, which was Disarming. They spent half an hour taking turns trying to Disarm each other.

By the end, James and Hermione were able to successfully disarm the others. Jade was only able to disarm Neville once, and that was only because he didn't have a tight hold of his wand at that time. Ron and Neville weren't able to disarm the others at all yet, though Jade and Ron both said they had felt a slight tug on their wands the last time Neville tried to disarm them.

The five then decided to do some of their homework and after, they headed down for dinner. After dinner, James and Jade went outside for their first practice. Wood looked very pleased to find that James had a Nimbus Two Thousand. "With your excellent Seeker ability and the best broom on the market, we'll be sure to win!"

Jade was decidedly unhappy over having to use a school broom, but did not complain. However, despite the fact that she was an excellent Chaser, she didn't do as well as Angelina, Alicia, and Katie due to the Shooting Star she was riding.

When practice was over, Jade confided to James that she couldn't wait until she was a second year and could have a proper broom of her own at school.

The next Monday the 'twins' and their friends were busy practicing spells in the Room of Requirement. Neville and Ron had finally gotten the hang of Disarming, and Jade was able to do it properly, not just when the other person wasn't holding on tightly to his wand. They had moved on to Stunning, the Full-Body Bind, and the Leg-Locker Curse. In addition, Neville was practicing the spells he didn't quite get the hang of in class, and James was trying to improve in Transfiguration. So far, he could change the color and size of an object, but that wasn't of much use. Furthermore, size-changing was really more of a charm.

The five of them were so caught up in their spellwork that they forgot the time. Finally, Hermione realized that it was almost eleven o'clock. They had to return to their common room, but it was now after curfew. If a teacher or Filch caught them wandering about the corridors, they'd be in trouble.

They set out nervously, praying that they wouldn't get caught. However, they had just turned the corner when they heard the voice of Filch talking to Mrs. Norris in the distance. Neville panicked and began running in the direction they had come from. The others went after him.

In their rush, James tripped and bumped into Neville, who bumped into a suit of armor. The resulting crash was bound to be loud enough to bring Filch. Jade and Ron pulled James and Neville up and the five hurried down the stairs and through a passageway behind a tapestry.

Finally they came to the third floor. They were rushing down a corridor when Peeves appeared. Jade started to get the Poltergeist to not reveal them by promising to get him a Dungbomb. However, impatient Ron undid her work by taking a swipe at Peeves and ordering him to get out of the way. This was a mistake and caused Peeves to yell, "STUDENTS OUT OF BED IN THE CHARMS CORRIDOR!"

The shouts were certain to attract Filch and the five students rushed down the corridor. They came to a door, but it was locked. Ron and Neville futilely tugged on it. "Oh, move over!" snarled Jade, who was already quite annoyed with Ron undoing her attempt to persuade Peeves to not turn them in. She pulled out her wand, tapped the lock and whispered, "Alohomora!"

The lock clicked and the door swung open - they piled through it, shut it quickly and pressed their ears against it, listening.

"Which way did they go, Peeves?" Filch was saying. "Quick, tell me."

"Say 'please'."

"Don't mess me about, Peeves, now where did they go?"

"Shan't say nothing if you don't say please," said Peeves in his annoying sing-song voice.

"All right - please."

"NOTHING! Ha haaa! Told you I wouldn't say nothing if you didn't say please! Ha ha! Haaaaaa!" And they heard the sound of Peeves whooshing away and Filch cursing in rage.

"He thinks this door is locked," James whispered. "I think we'll be OK - get off, Neville!" For Neville had been tugging on the sleeve of James's robe for the last minute. "What?"  
James turned around - and saw, quite clearly, what. For a moment, he was sure he'd walked into a nightmare - This was too much, on top of everything that had happened so far. They weren't in a room, as he had supposed. They were in a corridor.

The forbidden corridor on the third floor. And now they knew why it was forbidden. They were looking straight into the eyes of a monstrous dog, a dog which filled the whole space between the ceiling and floor. It had three heads. Three pairs of rolling, mad eyes; three noses, twitching and quivering in their direction; three drooling mouths, saliva hanging in slippery ropes from yellowish fangs

It was standing quite still, all six eyes staring at them, and James knew the only reason they weren't already dead was that their sudden appearance had taken it by surprise, but it was quickly getting over that, there was no mistaking what those thunderous growls meant. Jade looked down at the ground and noticed that the dog was standing on a trapdoor. However, she was too concerned about getting out of there without being killed or injured to point this out then.

James groped for the doorknob - between Filch and death, he'd take Filch.

They fell backwards - James slammed the door shut, and they ran, they almost flew back down the corridor. Filch must have hurried off to look for them somewhere else because they didn't see him anywhere, but they hardly cared - all they wanted to do was put as much space as possible between them and that monster.

They didn't stop running until they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady on the seventh floor.

"Where on earth have you all been?" she asked, looking at their dressing-gowns hanging off their shoulders and their flushed, sweaty faces.

"Never mind that - pig snout, pig snout," panted James, and the portrait swung forward. They scrambled into the common room and collapsed, trembling into armchairs.

It was a while before any of them said anything. Neville, indeed, looked as if he'd never speak again.

"What do they think they're doing, keeping a thing like that locked up in a school?" said Ron finally. "If any dog needs exercise, that one does."

"Well, if you hadn't yelled at Peeves to move aside, he wouldn't have shouted that we were out in the corridor and we wouldn't have had to hide in the same place with that dog!" retorted Jade angrily.

Hermione ignored what Jade had said. "You don't use your eyes, any of you, do you?" she snapped. "Didn't you see what it was standing on?"

"The floor?" James suggested. "I wasn't looking at its feet, I was too busy with its heads."

"No, not the floor!" shouted Jade. "It was standing on a trapdoor. It's obviously guarding something."

"But guarding what?" asked Neville.

"Probably whatever it was Hagrid had to fetch from Gringotts," responded Jade. The others agreed with her and then they went to bed, Jade still annoyed with Ron.

September passed and October arrived. Ron had apologized profusely for snapping at Peeves and was back on friendly terms with Jade. Neville's spellwork improved greatly, thought he didn't master spells as quickly as the others unless they had to do with Defense. James finally overcame his block on mastering Transfiguration, though he still didn't master it as quickly as Jade and Hermione did. He continued to do better in Charms, which meant that he must have inherited his mother's ability in Charms. He also felt that Defense was his best subject, though with Quirrell for a teacher, he wasn't completely sure. It was only by judging his expertise in mastering jinxes and other Defensive spells that he felt he was as great in Defense Against Dark Arts as he was in flying.

By the time Halloween rolled around, James and Jade felt comfortable with their life at Hogwarts. While they still missed their mother greatly, they enjoyed hanging out with their friends, learning magic, and flying. Even having to put with Darryl and Malfoy didn't bother them much. They didn't really like Snape being unfair to the Gryffindors, but since he left James and Jade alone most of the time (mainly due to the fact that they produced perfect, or almost perfect potions and never misbehaved in class), they ignored him.

On Halloween, the entire castle woke to the delicious spell of baking pumpkin. In Charms class that day, Professor Flitwick announced that he felt the class was ready to learn the Levitation Charm. James was partnered with Seamus Finnigan. James managed to levitate the feather several inches on his sixth try, earning five points for Gryffindor, but it refused to move for Seamus. In fact, the Irish boy got so impatient that he prodded the feather with his wand, setting it on fire. James had to put it out with his hat, for he didn't know the spell to produce water.

Hermione and Jade were able to master the Levitation Charm quickly and won points as well. Neville managed to levitate his feather one inch for about two seconds, to his utter delight. Ron only caused his feather to flop about the table. He was very sour when class ended and snapped at Neville when he expressed his delight on levitating his feather. Of course, Ron felt bad and apologized immediately after, but Neville still looked hurt for a few minutes.

At the feast, the five of them enjoyed the decorations and food. Halfway through, however, Quirrell came dashing into the Great Hal, turban askew and a look of terror on his face. James was about to comment on why Quirrell had not been at the feast earlier when the teacher gasped, "Troll - in the dungeons. Thought you should know." Quirrell fainted immediately thereafter.

There was instant pandemonium, but Dumbledore quickly restored order. He had the prefects take the students back to the common rooms, while the teachers went to deal with the troll. James wondered out loud how a troll could have gotten in.

"Beats me," answered Ron. "Maybe Peeves let it in for a Halloween joke."

Jade looked doubtful. "Peeves's jokes tend to be more annoying than anything truly dangerous. I don't think he would have let the troll in. But how could one get in the school? Hogwarts has all sorts of magical protections. Though I've read that trolls are really stupid."

"Well, the teachers will deal with the troll," said Neville. "We don't have to worry about it."

Hermione looked thoughtful. "Though if the troll appeared in front of us right now, I'm sure the five of us could deal with it until the teachers showed up. We've all master the Stunning Spell, so we could Stun it."

The others looked at her like she was crazy. "What is the matter with you, Hermione?" demanded James. "We're only first-years! Just because we know the Stunning Spell doesn't mean we'd be able to deal with a troll."

"I'm not saying we should," retorted Hermione. "Just that we would be able to if we had to do it."

One of the Gryffindor prefects looked back at them, so they stopped talking about the troll. Several minutes after they were all safe in the Gryffindor common room, the rest of the feast was sent up. Everyone grabbed plates and continued with the feast. James, Jade, and their friends found a corner to eat together and continued discussing the troll. However, none of them could come up with any plausible theories as to how the troll got in.

An hour later, Professor McGonagall came in to inform the Gryffindors that the troll had been taken care of. They were all quite happy with the news, and eventually, everyone went upstairs to bed.

A/N: I did not include the troll scene, because there was no point. The five kids are already friends, so there was no need for them to fight a troll to cement their friendship like in the book.


	9. Quidditch

As they entered November, the weather turned very cold. The mountains around the school became icy grey and the lake like chilled steel. Every morning the ground was covered in frost. Hagrid could be seen from the upstairs windows, defrosting broomsticks on the Quidditch pitch, bundled up in a long moleskin overcoat, rabbit-fur gloves and enormous beaver skin boots. Mrs. North sent a package containing new gloves, hats, and scarves to James and Jade, a present they appreciated.

The Quidditch season had begun. On Saturday, James would be playing in his first match after weeks of training: Gryffindor versus Slytherin. If Gryffindor won, they would move up into second place in the House Championship. Hardly anyone had seen James play because Wood had decided that, as their secret weapon, James should be kept, well, secret. But the news that he was playing Seeker had leaked out somehow, and James didn't know which was worse - people telling him he'd be brilliant or people (namely Darryl and Malfoy) telling him they'd be running around underneath him, holding a mattress.

On the day before the Quidditch match, the 'twins' and their friends were gathered in the courtyard during break. Hermione had conjured a bright blue fire that could be carried in a jam jar and they were standing around it, warming up. James was discussing _Quidditch Through the Ages_, which he had recently checked out of the library, with Ron and Neville. Hermione and Jade were going over the Disillusionment Charm. Ever since that time they had been out in the corridors after curfew, they had looked up to spell so they could avoid being spotted by a teacher if such a thing happened again. So far, none of them had completely mastered the charm, though Hermione had been able to make half of a book blend in with its surroundings.

A few minutes later, Neville nudged Jade and hissed nervously, "Snape's coming." Since he wasn't very good at brewing potions, Snape constantly bullied him in class. As a result, Neville was now somewhat scared of the Potions professor.

Immediately the five of them gathered closer together, blocking the fire from view. They were certain that it wasn't allowed, though Hermione hadn't found anything against it when she checked the school rules.

However, something about their expressions must have said they were guilty, for Snape limped over to them. However, he couldn't seem to find anything to tell them off for. Finally he just barked, "Five points for loitering about," and limped away.

"There's nothing in the rules against hanging around the courtyard!" exclaimed Hermione indignantly.

"I wonder what's up with his leg?" asked Neville, staring after Snape's retreating figure.

"I dunno, but I hope it's really bothering him," said Ron bitterly.

"Ronald Weasley!" exclaimed Jade, looking shocked. "Just because Snape isn't nice doesn't mean you can talk like that. Besides, he's not that bad a person. If he were, Mulan would have hissed at him or tried to scratch him." She gestured at the cat, who was curled around her feet and rubbing her back against the fire jar. "See? She's just her usual self, warming up against the fire."

"You're right," said James, staring at Mulan. "She hasn't reacted to Snape in any way. Yet Mulan hissed at Crabbe and Malfoy and tried to scratch Malfoy and Darryl, er Harry Potter, when we ran into them a few days ago."

"She also hissed at that second-year Gryffindor, Cormac McClaggen," said Jade. "Katie Bell says that he's a very unpleasant and arrogant person, though he's doesn't go around insulting people like 'Harry Potter' does."

"Well, then we'd just have to look to Mulan to see if anyone we meet is truly a unpleasant or evil person," said Hermione.

"I guess Snape can't be too bad after all," said Ron reluctantly. "But he's still actung like a git."

Hermione and Jade frowned at him, but didn't say anything. That evening, James decided that it was time he told Ron and Neville the truth. He had been friends with them for two months and considered them to just as close friends as Hermione was. So while the five of them were trying to get the hang of the Disillusionment Charm, James said, "I have something to tell you guys."

"You're going to tell them now?!" exclaimed Jade. "But - well, I guess now's a good as any. And they can be trusted."

James nodded and dispelled with the Glamour Charm, revealing messy black hair and the lightning-bolt scar. "You look like Harry Potter!" gasped Neville. "James, what's going on?"

"I look like Harry Potter because I really am him," said James. "The Harry Potter in Slytherin is a fake. He's either got a Glamour to look like Harry, or he's one of the few that can change their appearance at will."

"But why haven't you revealed yourself?" inquired Ron. "And does this mean that Jade's not your twin sister?"

James nodded. "I was adopted. Sylvia North found me on her doorstep, realized who I was, and adopted me, doing some spells so that I would appear to be Jade's twin and everything. I don't want to reveal who I really am. Mum explained to me that Voldemort has lost his powers and a body, but he's not completely gone. She's certain that someday he'll find a way to return to power, with a proper body. If everyone believes me to be James North, not Harry James Potter, Voldemort won't think to target me. Though I will probably have to seek him out and fight him, since it looks as if I might be the only person that can defeat him."

"Why can't Dumbledore fight You-Know-Who?" asked Ron. "Dumbledore's the only one the Dark Lord's afraid of."

"Yes, but I was the one that defeated Voldemort as a baby, not Dumbledore." James ignored the flinches from Ron and Neville and continued, "Since Voldemort's was so keen to try to kill me then, I believe, and so does Mum, Jade, and Hermione, that he'll want to go after me again once he regains power and a body. He won't know that I'm Harry, but someone has to defeat him, and it looks like I'm elected, just from his going after me as a baby. Though Mum, Jade, and Hermione have said they'll help me."

"We'll help you as well," said Neville and Ron at the same time. Both looked determined.

"You don't have to," said James. "What if you got killed? I couldn't live with that. Actually, I can't stand the thought of Jade, Mum, and Hermione being killed, either, but they made it very clear that only death would stop them from helping me when the time comes."

"The same goes for us," said Neville. "We're your friends, James, and we're standing by you."

Ron nodded. "And we swear not to reveal who you really are, James."

Jade held out her hand and Hermione followed suit. After a second of surprise, the boys did the same, the five hands one on top of each other. Hermione thought for a minute, then said, "I swear to be eternal friends with the rest of you guys. We will work together to defeat the Dark Lord when the time comes. The rest of you repeat what I just said."

The four others did as Hermione said. When they were done, a gold glow appeared around them for several seconds, and a red cord on each of their wrists flashed for a minute. "I think our swearing of friendship was a magical oath of some sort," said Jade, sounding awed. "That's what the gold glow around us meant, I believe. I'll have to look up the red cord on our wrists."

She went to the table, where a book had just appeared. After flipping through it and reading a few pages, she said, "The red cord was a symbol of our frienship. It also essentially made us blood brothers and sisters, though it would be okay if we were to get romantically involved." She blushed as she said the last bit. "You know, like if I were to become Neville's boyfriend."

Neville turned scarlet as well, but said, "Okay, we're now really close friends. Well, closer than we were before. This is amazing."

James glanced at his watch. "It's getting late. We'd better head back to the common room. I don't want to be caught out in the corridors after curfew again, especially when none of us has mastered the Disillusionment Charm." He resumed the Glamour.

The next morning dawned very bright and cold. The Great Hall was full of the delicious smell of fried sausages and the cheerful chatter of everyone looking forward to a good Quidditch match.

However, James was a bundle of nerves over the match and couldn't eat. "James, you need your strength," said Seamus Finnigan. "Seekers are always the ones who get nobbled by the other team."

"Thanks, Seamus," said James, watching Seamus pile ketchup on his sausages.

Finally Jade had to threaten to hex James before he finally choked down a few bites of toast and some orange juice.

By eleven o'clock the whole school seemed to be out in the stands around the Quidditch pitch. Many students had binoculars. The seats might be raised high in the air but it was still difficult to see what was going on sometimes.

Jade, Ron, Hermione, and Neville joined Seamus and Dean the West Ham fan up in the top row. As a surprise for James, they had painted a large banner on one of the sheets Scabbers had ruined.

It said James North for President and Dean, who was good at drawing, had done a large Gryffindor lion underneath. Then Hermione had performed a tricky little charm so that the paint flashed different colors.

Meanwhile, in the changing rooms, James and the rest of the team were changing into their scarlet Quidditch robes (Slytherin would be playing in green). Wood cleared his throat for silence. "OK, men," he said.

"And women," said Chaser Angelina Johnson.

"And women," Wood agreed. "This is it."

"The big one," said Fred Weasley.

"The one we've all been waiting for," said George.

"We know Oliver's speech by heart," Fred told James. "We were in the team last year."

"Shut up, you two," said Wood. "This is the best team Gryffindor's had in years. We're going to win. I know it." He glared at them as if to say, "Or else."

"Right. It's time. Good luck, all of you."

James followed Fred and George out of the changing room and, hoping his knees weren't going to give way, walked on to the pitch to loud cheers.

Madam Hooch was refereeing. She stood in the middle of the pitch, waiting for the two teams, her broom in her hand. "Now, I want a nice fair game, all of you," she said, once they were all gathered around her. James noticed that she seemed to be speaking particularly to the Slytherin captain, Marcus Flint, a fifth-year. James thought Flint looked as if he had some troll blood in him.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw the fluttering banner high above, flashing James North for President over the crowd. His heart skipped. He felt braver.

"Mount your brooms, please."  
James clambered on to his Nimbus Two Thousand.

Madam Hooch gave a loud blast on her silver whistle. Fifteen brooms rose up, high, high into the air. They were off.  
"And the Quaffle is taken immediately by Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor - what an excellent Chaser that girl is, and rather attractive, too -"

"JORDAN!"  
"Sorry, Professor."

The Weasley twins' friend, Lee Jordan, was doing the commentary for the match, closely watched by Professor McGonagall.

"And she's really belting along up there, a neat pass to Alicia Spinnet, a good find of Oliver Wood's, last year only a reserve - back to Johnson and - no, Slytherin have taken the Quaffle, Slytherin captain Marcus Flint gains the Quaffle and off he goes - Flint flying like an eagle up there - he's going to sc - no, stopped by an excellent move by Gryffindor Keeper Wood and Gryffindor take the Quaffle - that's Chaser Katie Bell of Gryffindor there, nice dive around Flint, off up the field and - OUCH - that must have hurt, hit in the back of the head by a Bludger - Quaffle taken by Slytherin - that's Adrian Pucey speeding off towards the goalposts, but he's blocked by a second Bludger - sent his way by Fred or George Weasley, can't tell which - nice play by the Gryffindor Beater, anyway, and Johnson back in possession of the Quaffle, a clear field ahead and off she goes - she'd really flying - dodges a speeding Bludger - the goalposts are ahead - come on, now, Angelina - Keeper Bletchley dives - misses - GRYFFINDOR SCORE!"

Gryffindor cheers filled the cold air, with howls and moans from the Slytherins.

"Budge up there, move along."

"Hagrid!"

Ron and Hermione squeezed together to give Hagrid space to join them.

"Bin' watchin' from me hut," said Hagrid, patting a large pair of binoculars round his neck, "But it isn't the same as bein' in the crowd. No sigh of the Snitch yet, eh?"

"Nope," said Ron. "James hasn't had much to do yet."

"Kept outta trouble, though, that's somethin'," said Hagrid, raising his binoculars and peering skywards at the speck that was James.

Way up above them, James was gliding over the game, squinting about for some sign of the Snitch. This was part of his and Wood's game plan.

"Keep out of the way until you catch sight of the Snitch," Wood had said. "We don't want you attacked before you have to be."

When Angelina had scored, James had done a couple of loop-the-loops to let out his feelings. Now he was back to staring around for the Snitch.

Once he caught sight of a flash of gold but it was just a reflection from one of the Weasley's wrist watches, and once a Bludger decided to come pelting his way, more like a cannon ball than anything, but James dodged it and Fred Weasley came chasing after it.  
"All right there, James?" he had time to yell, as he beat the Bludger furiously towards Marcus Flint.

"Slytherin in possession," Lee Jordan was saying. "Chaser Pucey ducks two Bludgers, two Weasleys and Chaser Bell and speeds towards the - wait a moment - was that the Snitch?"

A murmur ran through the crowd as Adrian Pucey dropped the Quaffle, too busy looking over his shoulder at the flash of gold that had passed his left ear.

James saw it. In a great rush of excitement he dived downwards after the streak of gold. Slytherin Seeker Terence Higgs had seen it, too. Neck and neck they hurtled towards the Snitch - all the Chasers seemed to have forgotten what they were supposed to be doing as they hung in mid-air to watch.

James was faster than Higgs - he could see the little round ball, wings fluttering, darting up ahead - he put on an extra spurt of speed - WHAM!

A roar of rage from the Gryffindors below - Marcus Flint had blocked James on purpose and his broom span off course, James holding on for dear life.

"Foul!" screamed the Gryffindors.  
Madam Hooch spoke angrily to Flint and then ordered a free shot at the goalposts for Gryffindor. But in all the confusion, of course, the Golden Snitch had disappeared from sight again.

Down in the stands, Dean Thomas was yelling, "Send him off, ref! Red card!"

"This isn't football, Dean," Ron reminded him. "You can't send people off in Quidditch - and what's a red card?"

But Hagrid was on Dean's side. "They ought to change the rules, Flint coulda knocked James outta the air."

Lee Jordan was finding it hard not to take sides. "So - after that obvious and disgusting bit of cheating -"

"Jordan, I'm warning you -"

"All right, all right. Flint nearly kills the Gryffindor Seeker, which could happen to anyone, I'm sure, so a penalty to Gryffindor, taken by Spinnet, who puts it away, no trouble, and we continue play, Gryffindor still in possession."

James continued his search for the Snitch. He was very annoyed by what Flint did, but there was nothing he could do about it. However, he was now even more determined the find the Snitch and defeat Slytherin.

Lee was still commentating. "Slytherin in possession - Flint with the Quaffle - passes Spinnet - passes Bell - hit hard in the face by a Bludger, hope it broke his nose - only joking, Professor - Slytherin score - oh no..."

James stifled a groan, then spotted a glint of gold by the Gryffindor goalpost. He went streaking after it. Higgs saw a few seconds later and followed. James had the faster broom and a head start, however, and reached the goalpost first. He went into a dive and two seconds later, his fingers were clutched around the Snitch. He pulled out of the dive and raised his arm in triumph. "I've caught the Snitch!" The stands (except the Slytherins) erupted into cheers.

The Gryffindor team mobbed James as Lee Jordan happily shouted the results, Gryffindor had won one hundred and seventy points to twenty. Hagrid appeared and invited James and his friends to his hut for a celebratory cup of tea. It was during tea that Jade suddenly remembered that her mother had said that Hagrid had a fondess for larger and dangerous creatures. So she asked, "Hagrid, do you happen to know anything about the large three-headed dog that's guarding something up in the castle?"

Hagrid dropped the teapot. "How do you know about Fluffy?" he demanded.

"Fluffy?"

"Yeah - he's mine - bought him off a Greek chappie I met in the pub las' year - I lent him to Dumbledore to guard the -"

"Yes?" said James eagerly.

"Now, don't ask me any more," said Hagrid gruffly. "That's top secret, that is."

"But someone's after it!" protested Ron. "Maybe even one of the teachers! We figured that something was up when the troll appeared on Halloween."

"Rubbish!" snapped Hagrid. "None o' the teachers would do anythin' of the sort!"

"But someone had to have let the troll in for a distraction!" cried Hermione. "They probably wanted to find a way to get past Fluffy."

"I'm tellin' yeh, yer wrong!" said Hagrid hotly. "Now, listen to me, all five of yeh - yer meddlin' in things that don' concern yeh. It's dangerous. You forget that dog, an' you forget what it's guardin', that's between Professor Dumbledore an' Nicolas Flamel -"

"Aha!" said James. "So there's someone called Nicolas Flamel involved, is there?"

Hagrid looked furious with himself.


	10. The Mirror of Erised

Christmas was coming. One morning in mid-December, Hogwarts woke to find itself covered in several feet of snow. The lake froze solid and the Weasleys were punished for bewitching several snowballs so that they followed Quirrell around, bouncing off the back of his turban.

The few owls that managed to battle their way through the stormy sky to deliver post had to be nursed back to health by Hagrid before they could fly off again.

No one could wait for the holidays to start. While the Gryffindor common room and the great Hall had roaring fires, the draughty corridors had become icy and a bitter wind rattled the windows in the classrooms. Worse of all were Professor Snape's classes down in the dungeons, where their breath rose in a mist before them and they kept as close as possible to their hot cauldrons.

James and Jade were very excited about going home and seeing their mother again. Ron had been invited to come with them, for his parents were visiting his brother Charlie in Romania, and he'd accepted the invitation.

In Potions class, Darryl and Malfoy could be heard discussing the holidays. Darryl couldn't visit his father, who was in America, but he had been invited to spend the holidays at the Malfoy manor. Darryl had accepted and he and Malfoy were planning activites.

Jade muttered darkly, "He should be spending his Christmas locked in a dungeon. It would serve him right for going on with this charade and being such an unpleasant person."

When they left the dungeons at the end of Potions, they found a large fir tree blocking the corridor ahead. Two enormous feet sticking out at the bottom and a loud puffing sound told them that Hagrid was behind it.

"Hi, Hagrid, want any help?" Ron asked, sticking his head through the branches.

"Nah, I'm all right, thanks, Ron."

"Would you mind moving out of the way?" came Malfoy's cold drawl from behind them. "Are you trying to earn some extra money, Weasley? Hoping to be gamekeeper yourself when you leave Hogwarts, I suppose - that hut of Hagrid's must seem like a palace compared to what your family's used to."

Ron dived at Malfoy just as Snape came up the stairs. "WEASLEY!" Ron let go of Malfoy's robes.

"He was provoked, Professor Snape," said Hagrid, sticking his huge hairy face out from behind the tree. "Malfoy was insultin' his family."

"Be that as it may, fighting is against Hogwarts rules, Hagrid," said snape silkily. "Five points from Gryffindor, Weasley, and be grateful it isn't more. Move along, all of you."

Darryl, Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle pushed roughly past the tree, scattering needles everywhere and smirking.

"I'll get him," said Ron, grinding his teeth at Malfoy's back, "one of these days, I'll get him -"

"Come on, cheer up, it's nearly Christmas," said Hagrid. "Tell yeh what, come with me an' see the Great Hall, looks a treat."

So Jade, James, Ron, Hermione, and Neville followed Hagrid and his tree off to the Great Hall, where Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick were busy with the Christmas decorations.

"Ah, Hagrid, the last tree - put it in the far corner, would you?"

The Hall looked spectacular. Festoons of holly and mistletoe hung all around the walls and no fewer than twelve towering Christmas trees stood around the room, some sparkling with tiny icicles, some glittering with hundreds of candles.

"How many days you got left until yer holidays?" Hagrid asked.

"Just one," said Hermione. "And that reminds me - guys, we've got half an hour before lunch, we should be in the library."

"Oh yeah, you're right," said Ron, tearing his eyes away from Professor Flitwick, who had golden bubbles blossoming from out of his wand and trailing them over the branches of the new tree.

"The library?" said Hagrid following them out of the Hall. "Just before the holidays? Bit keen, aren't yeh?"

"Oh, we're not working," James told him brightly. "Ever since you mentioned Nicolas Flamel we've been trying to find out who he is."

"You what?" Hagrid looked shocked. "Listen here - I've told yeh - drop it. It's nothin' to you what that dog's guardin'."

"We just want to know who Nicolas Flamel is, that's all," said Hermione.

"Unless you'd like to tell us and save us the trouble?" Jade added. "We must've been through hundreds of books already and we can't find him anywhere - just give us a hint - I know I've read his name somewhere."

"I'm sayin' nothin'," said Hagrid flatly.

"Just have to find out for ourselves, then," said Ron, and they left Hagrid looking disgruntled and hurried off to the library.

They had indeed been searching books for Flamel's name ever since Hagrid had let it slip, because how else were they going to find out what it was someone, maybe a teacher, was trying to steal? The trouble was, it was very hard to know where to begin, not knowing what Flamel might have done to get himself into a book.

He wasn't in _Great Wizards of the Twentieth Century_, or _Notable Magical Names of Our Time_; he was missing, too, from _Important Modern Magical Discoveries_, and _A Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry_. And then, of course, there was the sheer size of the library; tens of thousands of books; thousands of shelves; hundreds of narrow rows.

Hermione and Jade took out a list of subjects and titles they had decided to search while Ron and Neville strode off down a row of books and started pulling them off shelves at random. James wandered over to the Restricted Section. He had been wondering for a while if Flamel wasn't somewhere in there.

Unfortunately, you needed a specially signed note from one of the teachers to look in any of the restricted books and he knew he'd never get one. These were the books containing powerful Dark Magic never taught at Hogwarts and only read by older students studying advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts. Also, he couldn't sneak in, for Fred and George had told him that without a note from a teacher, the books would scream if you opened them.

"What are you looking for, boy?"

"Nothing," James said.

Madam Pince the librarian brandished a feather duster at him. "You'd better get out, then. Go on - out!"

Wishing he'd been a bit quicker at thinking up some story, James left the library. He, Jade, and their friends had already agreed they'd better not ask Madam Pince where they could find Flamel. They were sure she'd be able to tell them, but they couldn't risk any of the teachers hearing what they were up to.

James waited outside in the corridor to see if the other four had found anything, but he wasn't very hopeful. They had been looking for a fortnight, after all, but as they only had moments between lessons it wasn't surprising they'd found nothing. What they really needed was a nice long search without Madam Pince breathing down their necks.

Five minutes later, the others joined him, shaking their heads. They went off to lunch.

That night, James decided to perform the Disillusionment Charm on himself and have a good long search at the library. Or rather, he'd do the charm on his cloak, for he hadn't quite gotten hang of the countercharm. While he had successfully removed the charm on one of his robes, it had only been once. He hadn't been able to try again, so he wasn't sure if he could do it every time. It was likely that he would only be able to remove part of the Charm like in previous tries. If he had failed to remove the Charm entirely from himself, he'd have to ask Hermione, who was the only one to successfully remove the charm repeatedly, and deal with her scolding.

After the other four boys in the dorm had fallen asleep, James did the Disillusionment Charm on his cloak and snuck out the common room. With a lantern, he went through two bookcases, but couldn't find anything pertaining to Flamel. He then went to the Restricted Section. He scanned the books on the shelves, but didn't remove any, mindful of the Weasley twins' warning.

After half an hour, James gave up. He was feeling tired and decided that he might as well get some sleep. However, he must have been more tired than he thought, for he made a wrong turn and ended up in front of a suit of armor. He looked around, trying to place where he was. That was when he heard Filch talking to Mrs. Norris.

James looked around for someplace to hide, forgetting completely that he was Disillusioned and therefore Filch wouldn't be able to see him. A door stood ajar to his left and he quickly slipped inside. Filch walked straight past, not having noticed anything.

It was a few seconds before James noticed anything about the room he had hidden in. It looked like a disused classroom. The dark shapes of desks and chairs were piled against the walls and there was an upturned waste-paper basket - but propped against the wall facing him was something that didn't look as if it belonged there, something that looked as if someone had just put it there to keep it out of the way.

It was a magnificent mirror, as high as the ceiling, with an ornate gold frame, standing on two clawed feet. There was an inscription carved around the top: _Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi. _

His panic fading now that there was no sound of Filch, James moved nearer to the mirror. He looked at the writing, trying to puzzle out what it was. He knew that it wasn't French, Spanish, German, Chinese, or any other language he had seen samples of writing from. It didn't look like English, and he wondered if it was Latin. However, the only Latin he knew was "carpe diem", "mater", and the Hogwarts motto, so he wasn't sure.

After several minutes, he recalled reading that Leonardo da Vinci had liked to write in mirror writing. Since this was a mirror, he wondered if the inscription was written backwards. Checking, he saw that it was, and the writing was, "_I show not your face but your heart's desire_."

From that, James gathered the mirror would show him his heart's desire and he stepped in front of it to see what it was. He figured that if his aunt and uncle had kept him, his innermost desire would be having his parents with him, or at least be part of a proper family. However, he had a happy and loving family of his own, so his heart's desire would have to something else.

When he looked, he saw his reflection, but it was surrounded by Jade, his adopted mother, and his friends. Above them was his parents, but with the wings and harps of angels. They were beaming at the scene below them and looked as if they strongly approved.

James no longer felt tired as he gazed in the mirror scene. It was obvious to him that his heart's desire was being with the ones closest to him and knowing that his birth parents didn't mind that he had grown up with an adoptive family. He stared at the representation of his parents. His father looked exactly like he did without the Glamour, minus the scar and eyes. His mother had the same emerald eyes as he did, with thick, shoulder-length red hair. They looked happy and content. Of course, they couldn't be anything else in Heaven, and James had grown up with a happy childhood.

Finally James realized that he couldn't spent all night staring at the mirror and returned to the common room. The next day on the train ride home, he told Jade and his friends about the mirror. Hermione was too interested in hearing about the mirror to scold James for being out after curfew, though she did exclaim, "You were lucky to not be caught!" before asking what his heart's desire was.

After awhile, the discussion turned to what each of their heart's desire might be. Jade had the idea that Ron's desire would be to do better than all his brothers combined, and while Ron protested at first, finally admitted that it made sense. Neville said his desire would be along the lines of making his grandmother proud and living up to his parents. When Ron asked what he meant by that, Neville explained about his parents. Not long after Voldemort's downfall, Bellatrix Lestrange, her husband Rudolphus, brother-in-law Rabastan, and Barty Crouch Jr, had decided to seek their master's whereabouts. Frank and Alice Longbottom, Neville's parents, were Aurors and so the four Death Eaters thought they might have some idea. The Lestranges and Crouch Jr. ended up torturing the Longbottoms to insanity.

The other four looked extremely shocked, and after they had recovered, promised that they wouldn't go spreading it around. James and Jade exchanged looks. This explained why Neville lived with his grandmother. James couldn't help wondering which was worse, having your parents dead, or having your parents alive but not being able to recognize you. James decided that the latter was worse, for in the former case, at least your parents were in Heaven and could look down on you.

Finally the Hogwarts Express arrived and James and Jade were met by their mother. She hugged them, greeted Ron, Neville, and Hermione, and then led the 'twins' and Ron out to her car. They drove home, with the 'twins' telling their mother about their time at Hogwarts so far.


	11. Christmas Holidays

Once at the North home, the three kids went upstairs. As there were only three bedrooms, Ron had to share James's room. An extra bed that Mrs. North had conjured had been added to James's bed to form bunk beds. Ron was generously given the top bunk and he quickly settled in. Then the twins showed him around the house. Ron was fascinated with the television and some of the other Muggle appliances, and mentioned that his dad, who was obsessed with Muggles, would love this house.

After da nice dinner, in which Ron said that Mrs. North was as good a cook as his mum, the four went to the living room. A Christmas tree had been set up, but it hadn't been decorated yet. Mrs. North had waited for her children to come home, because they enjoyed decorating the tree with her. This year, instead of doing everything by hand, some magic was used, which was mainly levitating the tinsel and winding it around the tree. The wireless in the corner was tuned to a Muggle station that was playing Christmas carols and every so often, James and Jade would sing along. Ron and Mrs. North occasionally joined in.

Finally all that was left was putting on the star at the top, and Ron, as the guest, was given the honor of doing so. He climbed up onto a chair and carefully placed the star on top of the tree. Then Mrs. North turned on the lights and they all sat admiring the tree, drinking hot chocolate and eating biscuits made in the shape of stars, trees, bells, angels, and Father Christmas hats.

As Mrs. North had to work for the first three days of break, the 'twins' and Ron did not spend the days at home. Instead, they spent time with Hermione, as the Grangers had a housekeeper who could keep an eye on kids when necessary. The four of them had fun playing wizard's chess and other games. Ron had suggested that Hermione ask her parents about Nicolas Flamel, for it would be safe to ask them.

"Yes, it's very safe," said Hermione sarcastically. "So safe that they can't answer!"

Ron blinked, having apparently forgotten that Hermione's parents were Muggle dentists.

"Jade and I will ask Mum if she has any idea," offered James. "We'll just tell Mum that we heard the name and wanted to find out who he was. If she knew the real reason why we wanted to find out, she'd forbid us from doing any more searching about him."

However, Mrs. North couldn't tell them very much about Flamel. "Sorry, kids. All I know is that he's a famous wizard, is very old, and worked with Dumbledore before."

In the end, they decided to check the school library when term started again, only this time, they'd look through books about Dumbledore. If Nicolas Flamel had worked with Dumbledore before, there would bound to be a mention of Flamel.

On Christmas Eve, James and Jade sent Hedwig out with their presents to Neville. Their mother's new owl, Artemis, was borrowed so Ron and Hermione could send their presents to Neville as well. In the evening, the Grangers and Norths got together. They had done this ever since the twins and Hermione had become friends. This year, the gathering was at the North home. Mrs. North cooked a delicious dinner, with help from Jade. (Ron had no interest in cooking, and James, who normally helped despite not liking cooking much, elected to spend the afternoon playing with Ron.)

At five o'clock, the Grangers arrived with a bottle of wine and dessert (plum pudding). The four kids spent an hour playing the Muggle game of Clue. After that was dinner. The kids were allowed to have half a spoonful of wine mixed into grape juice to drink the toasts. Jade explained to Ron, "We kept asking if we could have wine every year, and finally, two years ago, our parents decided we could have a little bit."

"But it's always just several drops mixed with grape juice," said James.

Mrs. North went into the kitchen after dessert and came back out with four bottles. "I bought this at the Leaky Cauldron yesterday. It's a wizarding drink called Butterbeer." She poured some into the kids' glasses and said to the Drs. Grangers, "Don't worry, this is has very little alcoholic content. You'd have to drink around twenty bottles to get even remotely drunk, and nobody's going to drink that much in one sitting."

Ron had drunk Butterbeer before, but Hermione and the 'twins' hadn't. One sip was enough to make like the drink immensely. The adults had a glass of Butterbeer each as well and they all drank and ate pudding and Christmas cake.

After dinner, they all gathered around the Christmas tree in the living room. The adults talked while the kids played games. Ron went through the collection of Muggle games James and Jade had and pulled put one called "Candyland."

"Erm, Ron, that's a game for little kids," said Hermione. "Particularly ones that can't read yet." Ron read the rules, nodded in agreement with Hermione, and then quickly grabbed another game.

"Okay, we can play 'Sorry!'," said Jade. After the rules had been explained, they played. Ron, who played red, won the first time, and Jade, who played green, won the second.

Then James explained checkers to Ron and they had a game. James expected that he would win, for it was Ron's first time playing. However, Ron ended up winning. He was good at strategy, and no doubt applied that talent to checkers.

At ten o'clock, the Grangers went home and Mrs. North sent her kids and Ron upstairs to bed.

Christmas Day was the one day of the year that James and Jade couldn't contain their excitement and always woke up around six. "It's Christmas!" exclaimed James happily. He then woke up Ron, who at first wasn't pleased about being woken up so early, but then remembered presents and became excited. Jade burst into their room a minute later.

"Merry Christmas, James and Ron!" she exclaimed. "Isn't this wonderful?" She then left to wake up her mother.

Five minutes later, everyone was downstairs in the living room. Mrs. North looked as if she still wanted to get some more sleep, but for her children's and Ron's sakes, she didn't say anything and acted happy and cheerful. The three kids dove under the tree and began opening their presents.

Half an hour later, James had unwrapped and admired all his presents. From his mother he had received a pair of seeker gloves, a set of deep red dress robes, and five Galleons spending money. Jade's present was the book _Quidditch Through the Ages_.Hermione had given him the book _A Christmas Carol_ and her parents had given him a journal. Ron's present was a box of chocolate frogs, and his mother had sent an emerald green sweater and a box of fudge. Ron explained that his mother made a sweater each for her kids every year, and apparently she had included Ron's friends on the list this year. Neville's present was a very thin notebook with only five pages. This notebook was used for sending notes in. When a person wrote in it, the writing would disappear and appear in the notebook or notebooks it was connected to. The other people owning the notebooks would read the writing, which would then disappear after being read, and then write a reply. The last present was a flute from Hagrid.

Jade had received a Nimbus Two Thousand, rose pink dress robes, and five Galleons spending money from her mother. James's present was the book _Jane of Lantern Hill_. Hermione had given her the book _Hiedi_ and her parents had gifted a diary. Ron's present was a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans and his mother had sent a box of fudge and a jade green sweater. Neville had given Jade an identical notebook. The final present was two wooden bookends in the shape of dragons from Hagrid.

Ron thanked Mrs. North for the book _Flying with the Cannons_ and the navy blue dress robes. He then thanked the 'twins' for their gifts, which were the book _Quidditch Through the Ages_ and a model of a Nimbus Two Thousand. Mrs. North went to see about making breakfast, while the three kids put their gifts away, got dressed, and brushed their teeth. They all put on the sweaters Mrs. Weasley had sent, though Ron wasn't too thrilled about his. His mother made his sweater in maroon every year.

After breakfast, the kids thanked Neville and Hermione for their gifts via the notebooks Neville had sent. Then Mrs. North took them all the church to attend the Christmas service. While the Norths weren't particularly religious and rarely went to church (though they did believe in God and that Jesus was the Christ), they always went to the Christmas and Easter services. After the service, the kids began reading the books they'd received and after helped Mrs. North make the Christmas dinner. While eating dinner, Jade thought to ask, "Mum, why did you give us all dress robes as one of our presents?"

"Because you'll need them for the party Mrs. Longbottom is giving on New Year's Eve," responded Mrs. North. "Since you are friends with her grandson, Neville, the three of you, along with Hermione and me, are invited. I sent Hermione robes as well."

After dinner, they all gathered in the living room. The three kids played Muggle games, drinking hot chocolate and munching on biscuits at the same time. Mrs. North did some reading and watched them play occasionally. At eleven, they all went to bed.

The rest of the holidays passed quickly. James taught Ron how to play his video games and soon Ron enjoyed playing them as much as James did. When they weren't playing video games, they were watching movies. Ron was fascinated by them all, though he did lose interest in a couple of movies (_Cinderella_ and _Sleeping Beauty_) after several minutes into them. He didn't care much for reading, but he did enjoy the Redwall books and some of the books by Roald Dahl after Jade convinced him to try them.

On New Year's Eve, they showered and donned their dress robes, then Flooed to the Longbottom home for the party. James, who had never really been aware if Jade and Hermione were pretty (though he had never thought of them as ugly or plain, either), was struck by how lovely they looked that night. Jade's rose pink robes were made out of some sort of floaty material. Her hair fell in soft waves and curls about her face and a pink rose was pinned in her hair, above her right ear. She had on a jade pendant on pink coral bead chain and a bracelet made of pink coral beads. She had also been allowed to put on some cosmetics, though James could only recognize the pink nail polish and lipstick. He had no idea what the sparkly pink stuff on Jade's eyelids and the hint of red on her cheeks was called.

Hermione wore dress robes of sky blue, made of the same floaty material as Jade's robes. Her hair was no longer busy, but sleek and shiny and twisted up in some sort of elegant knot. She had on a (fake) sapphire pendant on silver chain and the charm bracelet James had gotten her for her twelfth birthday. Like Jade, she had on pink lipstick and nail polish, as well as sparkly blue stuff on her eyelids. James and Ron couldn't help staring at Hermione and Jade.

Neville, who looked quite nice in forest green dress robes, came over to greet them. However, his greeting trailed off as his gaze rested on the girls. After a moment's silence, he managed to stammer, "Er, y-you look nice, J-Jade and Hermione."

Ron and James collected their wits and echoed what Neville had said. Mrs. Longbottom came over and Neville quickly pulled himself together and introduced his friends to his grandmother. The stately, stern witch greeted them cordially, if a bit formally as well, and seemed to approve of them. She then told Neville to take his friends up to his room and keep them company until dinner.

Once away from his grandmother's stern eye, Neville relaxed and was more like his usual self in school. "I love Gran, but she can be a bit strict much of the time. However, she means well and I know she loves me."

"That's all right, Neville," said Ron. "My mum can be a bit scary at times when she yells. Mostly at Fred and George, though, since they're the ones that usually get into trouble and make her angry. But most of the time she's nice."

"Mum never yells at me and Jade," said James. "If we do something wrong, she just scolds us. If it's something a little more serious, she adds a punishment, like no dessert or being sent to our rooms for an hour. Or in Jade's case, no reading for pleasure."

"My parents do the same," added Hermione. "Well, that's talk about something else. How was your Christmas?"

Jade gave her a look. "Have you forgotten that we've been writing to Neville for the past week in the notebooks he gave us? He's told us all about his Christmas and just about everything else that's been going on, Hermione."

"Oh right," said Hermione. "Um, what else is there to talk about or do?"

Neville dug around his room and his old playroom and came up with a deck of Exploding Snap cards and a set of Gobstones. The five of them played Gobstones and Exploding Snap until dinner. The adults had theirs in the large dining room, while Neville and his friends had theirs in the much smaller one that the Longbottoms normally ate their meals in. One of the house-elves, Tizzy, waited on them. The 'twins', Hermione, and Ron had never seen a house-elf before, so they showed some interest in Tizzy.

After dinner, they spent another two hours playing. At ten o'clock, they Flooed home. James, Jade, and Ron went upstairs, while Mrs. North drove Hermione home. It had been a lovely party.


	12. A New Mystery

The holidays ended and James, Jade, and their friends returned to Hogwarts. Neville had looked through all the books in his grandmother's library, but couldn't find anything about Nicolas Flamel. Even looking for Dumbledore had been no help. In _Hogwarts, a History_, Dumbledore was mentioned as being Transfiguration teacher and Deputy Head before he was made Headmaster after Professor Dippet's retirement. Another book had listed the twelve uses of dragon blood that Dumbledore had discovered. None of the other books had to do with Dumbledore.

The five were back to skimming through books for ten minutes during their breaks. Hermione found a book containing a chapter on Dumbledore's defeat of Grindelwald. Jade found a book containing Dumbledore's role in the war against Voldemort. However, they couldn't seem to find any books mentioning the name Nicolas Flamel along with Dumbledore's. James ended up having even less time than the others to search, for Quidditch practice had started again.

Even the endless rain that had replaced the snow couldn't dampen his spirits. The Weasleys complained that Wood was becoming a fanatic, but James was on Wood's side. If they won their next match, against Hufflepuff, they would overtake Slytherin in the House Championship for the first time in seven years. He was very excited about this, and worked his hardest during practices.

After one practice, James headed for the Room of Requirement, for his friends were supposed to be waiting there for him. There he found Ron and Hermione playing chess, while Jade was writing in her diary. "Where's Neville?" asked James.

Jade looked up. "Neville went to the library to return a couple of books he borrowed," she responded.

At that moment Neville toppled into the room, his legs stuck together with what they recognised at once as the Leg-Locker Curse. He must have had to bunny hop all the way up to the Room of Requirement. James and Ron struggled to keep straight faces, though they could see the funny side of Neville's predicament and wanted to laugh. Hermione leapt up and performed the counter-curse. Neville's legs sprang apart and he got to his feet trembling.

"What happened?" Jade asked him, leading him over to sit with James and Ron.

"Malfoy," said Neville shakily. "I met him outside the library. He said he'd been looking for someone to practice that on." James instantly didn't feel like laughing anymore. He knew what it was like to be teased and bullied.

"Go to Professor McGonagall!" Hermione urged him. "Report him!"

Neville shook his head. "I don't want more trouble," he mumbled.

"You've got to stand up to him, Neville!" said Ron. "He's used to walking all over people, but that's no reason to lie down in front of him and make it easier."

"There's no need to tell me I'm not brave enough to be in Gryffindor, the fake Potter's already done that," Neville choked.

James felt in the pocket of his robes and pulled out a Chocolate Frog, the very last one from the box Ron had given him for Christmas. He gave it to Neville, who looked as though he might cry.

"Neville, you're worth twelve of Malfoy and Darryl," James said fiercely. "The Sorting Hat chose you for Gryffindor, didn't it? And where are those two? In stinking Slytherin."

"You stood up for me when Darryl called me a 'Mudblood' on the Hogwarts Express, Neville," said Hermione. "Remember?"

"If you were as worthless as Malfoy and Darryl said you were, do you think we'd be your friends?" asked Jade. "You're a wonderful person and will prove them wrong and we're proud to call you our friend."

Ron nodded. "Jade's right. We've sworn friendship and became the equivalent of blood brothers and sisters. And you are brave, or you wouldn't have said that you'd help James defeat You-Know-Who when the time comes."

Neville smiled as he unwrapped the Frog. "Thanks for cheering me up, guys." He took a bite of chocolate, then looked down at the card. "It's Dumbledore. You know, why don't we look here?" He flipped it over and gasped. "Hey, Nicolas Flamel _is_ on here! Listen to this: 'Professor Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel'!"

Hermione jumped to her feet. She hadn't looked so excited since they'd got back their marks for their very first piece of homework.

"Stay there!" she said, and she began searching the bookshelves. The others exchanged mystified looks, except for Jade.

"Hermione, the book you want is here," she said, picking up the enormous old book that just appeared on the table.

"Oh," said Hermione, turning red. "I thought the Room would have the book appear in the bookcase."

"It might, but it would be easier to have it appear on the table rather than have you search for it," said Jade.

"Whatever," said Hermione impatiently. "Anyway, the Room provided the book so I wouldn't have to run back to my dorm room to get it. I checked it from the library for a bit of light reading, but never thought of looking in there. "

"Light?" asked Ron, but Hermione told him to be quiet until she'd looked something up, and started flicking frantically through the pages, muttering to herself.

At last she found what she was looking for. "I knew it! I knew it!"

"Are we allowed to speak yet?" asked Ron grumpily.

Hermione ignored him. "Nicolas Flamel," she whispered dramatically, "is the only known maker of the Philosopher's Stone!"

This didn't have quite the effect she'd expected. "The what?" asked James, Ron, and Neville.

"Oh, honestly, don't you guys read? Look - read that, there."

She pushed the book towards the others, and they read:

_The ancient study of alchemy is concerned with making the Philosopher's Stone, a legendary substance with astonishing powers. The Stone will transform any metal into pure gold. It also produces the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal.  
There have been many reports of the Philosopher's Stone over the centuries, but the only Stone currently in existence belongs to Mr Nicolas Flamel, the noted alchemist and opera-lover. Mr Flamel, who celebrated his six hundred and sixty-fifth birthday last year, enjoys a quiet life in Devon with his wife, Perenelle (six hundred and fifty-eight)._

"See?" said Hermione, when they had finished. "The dog must be guarding Flamel's Philosopher's Stone! I bet he asked Dumbledore to keep it safe for him, because they're friends and he knew someone was after it. That's why he wanted the Stone moved out of Gringotts!"

"A stone that makes gold and stops you ever dying!" said James. "No wonder someone's after it! Anyone would want it."

"And no wonder we couldn't find Flamel in that _Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry_," said Ron. "He's not exactly recent if he's six hundred and sixty-five, is he?"

Next morning in Defence Against the Dark Arts, while copying down different ways of treating werewolf bites, James and Ron were still discussing what they'd do with a Philosopher's Stone if they had one via their notebooks. Ron said he'd buy his own Quidditch team, as well as a Nimbus Two Thousand and new stuff. James wanted to buy his mother a big house and provide her with enough money so she'd never have to work again and then go on a trip around the world with his family and friends. They only stopped the discussion when Jade and Hermione ordered them to stop writing and focus on the lecture via their notebooks.

As the upcoming Quidditch match approached, James started feeling a little nervous. He knew that he would most likely catch the Snitch and win the match for Hufflepuff, but he still had some doubts. What if Gryffindor lost and they didn't overtake Slytherin the House Championship? Of course, if Hufflepuff won, they might overtake Slytherin, so it wouldn't be too bad. At least Slytherin wouldn't be ahead, so that would be good. However, it would be better if Gryffindor won.

Finally the day of the match arrived. James was so nervous that he barely heard a word of Wood's pep talk. It didn't help his nerves when Fred reported that even Dumbledore had come to watch. He was sure that he'd mess up in front of the Headmaster.

The match soon began and the players were off. "Look, they're off," said Ron to Hermione. "Ouch!" Someone had poked Ron in the back of the head. It was Malfoy.

"Oh, sorry, Weasley, didn't see you there." Malfoy grinned broadly at Darryl, Crabbe, and Goyle.

"I think 'Weasel' sounds better," remarked Darryl, smirking.

Jade turned around and snapped, "Shut up, Darryl!" Then she turned her attention back on the game, ignoring Darryl's protest to stop calling him by the name his adopted father gave him.

Hermione, who had all her fingers crossed in her lap, was squinting fixedly at James, who was circling the game like a hawk, looking for the Snitch.

"You know how I think they choose people for the Gryffindor team?" said Malfoy loudly a few minutes later, "It's the people they feel sorry for. See, there's North, who's got no father, then there's the Weasleys, who've got no money - you should be on the team, Longbottom, you've got no brains."

Neville went bright red but turned in his seat to face Malfoy. "I'm worth twelve of you, Malfoy," he stammered.

Malfoy, Darryl, Crabbe and Goyle howled with laughter, but Ron, still not daring to take his eyes from the game, said, "You tell him, Neville."

"Longbottom, if brains were gold you'd be poorer than Weasl, and that's saying something," said Darryl.

Jade whirled around angrily. "Shut up! You're the one with no brains! You think you're so smart, that you've got everybody fooled into thinking you're Harry Potter. Well, I know that you're a fake! You're just Darryl Anton! I've no way of proving it now, but I assure you, if you keep this behavior up, I will find some way to prove that you're not really Harry Potter."

Darryl turned pale for a second, then gathered his wits and retorted, "I don't know what you're talking about! You've gone crazy." He turned to Malfoy and said, "I'm Harry Potter, and little Miss North here has gone out of her mind and thinks I'm not."

"Guys!" said Hermione suddenly. "James -!"

"What? Where?" asked Jade, turning her attention back on the game.

James had suddenly gone into a spectacular dive, which drew gasps and cheers from the crowd. Hermione stood up, her crossed fingers in her mouth, as James streaked towards the ground like a bullet.

"You're in luck, Weasley, North's obviously spotted some money on the ground!" said Malfoy.

Jade whirled around again and hissed, "Shut up, Malfoy, or I'll turn your robes into a frilly dress and turn your hair pink!" This threat was enough to make Malfoy shut up and she turned her focus back on James.

"Come on, James!" Hermione screamed, leaping off her seat to watch as James sped straight at Madam Hooch.

Up in the air, Madam Hooch turned on her broomstick just in time to see something scarlet shoot past her, missing her by inches - next second, James had pulled out of the dive, his arm raised in triumph, the Snitch clasped in his hand.

The stands erupted; it had to be a record, no one could ever remember the Snitch being caught so quickly.

"James's won! We've won! Gryffindor are in the lead!" shrieked Hermione, dancing up and down on her seat and hugging Jade.

Malfoy and Darryl were not pleased with this turn of events and tried to take out their anger on Neville and Ron. However, Neville pulled out his wand and managed to do part of what Jade had threatened, which was turn Malfoy's hair pink. While Malfoy and Darryl were busy trying to figure out how to Malfoy's hair back to its original color, Neville and the others ran down to the pitch.

James jumped off his broom, a foot from the ground. He couldn't believe it. He'd done it - the game was over; it had barely lasted five minutes. He grinned broadly as the Gryffindors ran onto the pitch and he was engufled with hugs from his friends and sister.

James left the changing room alone some time later, to take his Nimbus Two Thousand back to the broomshed. He couldn't ever remember feeling happier. He'd really done something to be proud of now, something he thoroughly enjoyed. It was much better than if everyone found out that he was really Harry Potter and started fussing over him just because he was famous.

He walked over the damp grass, reliving the last hour in his head, which was a happy blur: Gryffindors running to lift him on to their shoulders; his friends and sister cheering and hugging him.

James had reached the shed. He leaned against the wooden door and looked up at Hogwarts, with its windows glowing red in the setting sun. Gryffindor was in the lead, and he'd done it.

He was just about to go in the shed when he saw a hooded figure came swiftly down the front steps of the castle. Clearly not wanting to be seen, it walked as fast as possible towards the Forbidden Forest.

James's victory faded from his mind as he watched. He recognised the figure's prowling walk. Snape was sneaking into the Forest while everyone else was at dinner - what was going on?

James jumped back on his Nimbus Two Thousand and took off. Gliding silently over the castle he saw Snape enter the Forest at a run. He followed. The trees were so thick he couldn't see where Snape had gone. He flew in circles, lower and lower, brushing the top branches of trees until he heard voices. He glided towards them and landed noislessly in a towering beech tree.

He climbed carefully along one of the branches, holding tight to his broomstick, trying to see through the leaves. Below, in a shadowy clearing, stood Snape, but he wasn't alone. Quirrell was there, too.

James couldn't make out the look on his face, but he was stuttering worse than ever. He strained to hear what they were saying. He didn't quite catch every word, but it seemed that Snape was asking Quirrell if he'd gotten past 'that beast of Hagrid's yet." By the time the conversation ended, James was confused. It sounded like Snape was threatening Quirrell to get information on how to get past Fluffy and Quirrell's enchantment in order to get the Philosopher's Stone. However, despite Snape being an unpleasant person, Mulan the cat had never once reacted badly to him the few times she had been around him.

Quirrell left several minutes after Snape and then James quietly flew out the Forest. By this time, he was wondering if Quirrell was the one that was after the Stone. The one time Mulan had been around Quirrell, she had hissed angrily and would have attacked him if Jade hadn't grabbed her and shut her in the dorm room. So it was very likely that Quirrell wasn't what he seemed. His stuttering and nervousness could be an act. But with the way Snape behaved, he seemed more likely to be after the Stone.

Back in the castle, the others met James. They all looked very happy and excited.

"James, where have you been?" Hermione squeaked.

"We won! You won! We won!" shouted Ron, thumping James on the back. "Everyone's waiting for you in the common room, we're having a party, Fred and George stole some cakes and stuff from the kitchens."

"Let's go cele-," Jade stopped in mid-word when she saw James's expression. "What's wrong, James?"

James sighed loudly. "I have to tell you guys something." He led them to the Room of Requirement and then reported the meeting between Snape and Quirrell. Ron at first thought that Snape was after the Stone, However, after Jade pointed out that her cat didn't seem like she hated Snape, but had reacted badly to Quirrell, Ron had second thoughts. Finally the five of them decided that either Snape or Quirrell was after the Philosopher's Stone and they would figure out the rest later. They went to the Gryffindor common room for the party and did their best to act happy.


	13. Norbert the Norwegian Ridgeback

After the Quidditch match, Hermione became obsessed with the exams. She started drawing up revision timetables and color-coding her notes. Her friends wouldn't have minded, except she kept nagging them to do the same. Even Jade, who took schoolwork very seriously, thought Hermione was going to far. James was very surprised with Hermione's behavior, for she'd never acted like this in primary school. Then again, there hadn't been any big end-of-year exams, and it wasn't Hogwarts.

Once, Ron lost patience and snapped, "Hermione, the exams are ages away."

"Ten weeks," Hermione snapped. "That's not ages, that's like a second to Nicolas Flamel."

"But we're not six hundred years old," Ron reminded her. "Anyway, what are you revising for, you already know it all."

"What am I revising for? Are you mad? You realise we need to pass these exams to get into second year? They're very important, I should have started studying a month ago, I don't know what's got into me ..."

Unfortunately, the teachers seemed to be thinking along the same lines as Hermione. They piled so much homework on them that the Easter holidays weren't nearly as much fun as the Christmas ones.

It was hard to relax with Hermione next to you reciting the twelve uses of dragon's blood or practicing wand movements. Moaning and yawning, her friends spent most of their free time in the library with her to get through all their extra homework. James really didn't like it. He wasn't the type of person to cram for a test a few days before it, but neither did he start studying over two months before. He normally began studying for a major exam a month in advance.

"I'll never remember this," Ron burst out one afternoon, throwing down his quill and looking longingly out of the library window. It was the first really fine day they'd had in months. The sky was clear, forget-me-not blue and there was a feeling in the air of summer coming.

James, whom was looking up 'Dittany' in One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi, didn't look up until he heard Ron say, "Hagrid! What are you doing in the library?"

Hagid shuffled into view, hiding something behind his back. He looked very out of place in his moleskin overcoat.

"Jus' lookin'," he said, in a shifty voice that got their interest at once. "An' what're you lot up ter?" He looked suddenly suspicious. "Yer not still lookin' fer Nicolas Flamel, are yeh?"

"Oh, we found out who he is ages ago," said Ron impressively. "And we know what that dog's guarding, it's a Philosopher's St-"

"Shhhh!" Hagrid looked around quickly to see if anyone was listening. "Don' go shoutin' about it, what's the matter with yeh?"

"There are a few things we wanted to ask you, as a matter of fact," said James, "about what's guarding the Stone apart from Fluffy -"

"SHHHH!" said Hagrid again. "Listen - come an' see me later, I'm not promisin' I'll tell yeh anythin', mind, but don' go rabbitin' about it in here, students aren' s'pposed ter know. They'll think I've old yeh -"

"See you later, then," said James.

Hagrid shuffled off.  
"What was he hiding behind his back?" said Hermione thoughtfully. "Do you think it had anything to do with the Stone?"

"I'm going to see what section he was in," said Ron, who'd had enough of working. He came back a minute later with a pile of books in his arms and slammed them down on the table.  
"Dragons!" he whispered. "Hagrid was looking up stuff about dragons! Look at these: _Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland_; _From Egg to Inferno, A Dragon Keeper's Guide_."

"Mum mentioned that Hagrid always wanted a dragon," remarked Jade.

"But it's against our laws," said Ron. "Dragon-breeding was outlawed by the Warlocks' Convention of 1709, everyone knows that. It's hard to stop Muggles noticing us if we're keeping dragons in the back garden - anyway, you can't tame dragons, it's dangerous. You should see the burns Charlie's got off wild ones in Romania."

"But there aren't wild dragons in Britain?" asked James.

"Of course there are," said Ron. "Common Welsh Green and Hedridean Blacks. The Ministry of Magic has a job hushing them up, I can tell you. Our lot have to keep putting spells on Muggles who've spotted them, to make them forget."

"So what on earth's Hagrid up to?" said Hermione.

Neville shrugged. "Maybe he wants to read about dragons?" he suggested.

Jade shook her head. "According to Mum, Hagrid alreadly knows quite a bit about almost every magical creature in existance. The only reason he would be checking out dragon books would be if somehow got a hold of a dragon egg."

"Oh no!" gasped Hermione, looking horrified. "You don't think Hagrid actually has a dragon egg?"

"Hermione, this is Hagrid we're talking about," said Neville. "He loves dragon and wants one. It is possible, no, likely, that he somehow got a dragon egg and is looking up books on how to hatch and raise a dragon."

Hermione threw her hands up and Ron groaned. "What do we do about this?" he asked.

"First, we have to make sure if Hagrid has an egg or not," said James. "If he does, then I'll write Mum and ask her for advice. She won't rat Hagrid out or anything. She'll just try to come up with some way to deal with it."

When they knocked on the door of the gamekeeper's hut an hour later, they were surprised to see that all the curtains were closed.

Hagrid called, "Who is it?" before he let them in and then shut the door quickly behind them. It was stiflingly hot inside. Even though it was such a warm day, there was a blazing fire in the grate. Jade and Hermione exchanged worried looks

Hagrid made them tea and offered them stoat sandwiches, which they refused. "So - yeh wanted to ask me somethin'?"

"Yes," said James. There was no point in beating about the bush. "We were wondering if you could tell us what's guarding the Philosopher's Stone apart from Fluffy."

Hagrid frowned at him. "O' course I can't," he said. "Number one, I don' know meself. Number two, yeh know too much already, so I wouldn't tell yeh if I could. That Stone's here fer a good reason. It was almost stolen outta Gringotts - I s'ppose yeh've worked that out an' all? Beats me how yeh even know about Fluffy."

"Oh, come on, Hagrid, you might not want to tell us, but you do know, you know everything that goes on round here," said Hermione in a warm, flattering voice.

Hagrid's beard twitched and they could tell he was smiling. "We only wondered who had done the guarding, really," Hermione went on. "We wondered who Dumbledore had trusted enough to help him, apart from you."

Hagrid's chest swelled at these last words. The others beamed at Hermione.  
"Well, I don' s'pose it could hurt ter tell yeh that ... let's see ... he borrowed Fluffy from me ... then some o' the teachers did enchantments ... Professor Sprout - Professor Flitwick - Professor McGonagall -" he ticked them off on his fingers. "Professor Quirrell - an' Dumbledore himself did somethin', o' course. Hang on, I've forgotten someone. Oh yeah, Professor Snape."

"Snape and Quirrell?" demanded Jade. "But one of them is -"

"None o' them is after the Stone," said Hagrid firmly. "They're teachers!"

"But why did my cat Mulan hiss and try to scratch Quirrell the one time she was around him?" asked Jade. "She only does that around people she hates because they're evil or untrustworthy or something similar."

"You're mistaken!" snapped Hagrid. "Or yer cat is, Jade! Quirrell an' Snape helped protect the Stone! They're not about ter steal it!"

"You're the only one who knows how to get past Fluffy, aren't you, Hagrid?" asked James anxiously, deciding to change the subject. "And you wouldn't tell anyone, would you? Not even one of the teachers?"

"Not a soul knows except me an' Dumbledore," said Hagrid proudly.

"Well, that's something," James muttered to the others. "Hagrid, can we have a window open? I'm boiling."

"Can't, Harry, sorry," said Hagrid. James noticed him glance at the fire. James looked at it too.

He groaned, knowing what it was. In the very heart of the fire, underneath the kettle, was a huge, black egg.

"Where did you get it, Hagrid?" said Ron, crouching over the fire to get a closer look at the egg. "It must've cost you a fortune."

"Won it," said Hagrid. "Las' night. I was down in the villiage havin' a few drinks an' got into a game of cards with a stranger. Think he was quite glad ter get rid of it, ter be honest."

"But what are you going to do with it when it's hatched?" inquired Hermione.

"Well, I've bin doin' some readin'," responded Hagrid, pulling a large book from under his pillow. "Got this outta the library - _Dragon-Breeding for Pleasure and Profit_ - it's a bit outta date, o' course, but it's all in here. Keep the egg in the fire, 'cause their mothers breathe on 'em, see, an' when it hatches, feed it on a bucket o' brandy mixed with chicken blood every half hour. An' see here - how ter recognise diff'rent eggs - what I got there's a Norwegian Ridegback. They're rare, them."

He looked very pleased with himself, but Hermione didn't. "Hagrid, you live in a wooden house," she said.

But Hagrid wasn't listening. He was humming merrily as he stoked the fire.

So now they had something else to worry about: what might happen to Hagrid if anyone found out he was hiding an illegal dragon in his hut. James wrote to his mother that evening and sent the letter off with Hedwig immediately after.

Three days later, Mrs. North appeared. It just so happened to be her birthday as well, which gave her the perfect excuse to visit. She explained to Dumbledore that her children had always celebrated her birthday with her, and he readily gave James and Jade permission to spend the afternoon with their mother.

After enjoying birthday cake and presents in the Room of Requirement, they went to visit Hagrid. He was very surprised to see Mrs. North. "Sylvia Bradshaw!" he exclaimed. "What are you doin' here?"

"It's Sylvia North, actually," corrected Mrs. North. "I married Stuart North, remember? Anyway, James wrote to me about the situation you're in, asking for advice. So I'm here to celebrate my birthday with my kids and also to talk to you."

Hagrid poured tea and set out a plate of rock cakes. "Sylvia, yeh know I always wanted a dragon!" he pleaded.

"Yes, but you live in a wooden house," said Mrs. North patiently. "A dragon would set fire to it as soon as it grew big enough. Besides, they grow quite quickly. You know the largest dragons are almost half the size of the Quidditch pitch. In a month, it could grow as long as your house. Then how would you be able to hide it?"

"There's the Forbidden Forest," said Hagrid hopefully. "I could hide it there."

"And have it burn down the Forest?" asked Sylvia. "And do you really think the centaurs, unicorns, and other beings and creatures living there would like have a large dragon live among them?"

"Maybe not," conceded Hagrid. "Bu' I can't just abandon this egg!"

"We can send the egg to a dragon preserve," said Mrs. North soothingly. "They can hatch the egg and tend to the dragon. Ron mentioned that his brother Charlie works in a dragon preserve when he visited for Christmas. You could write to Charlie and see if he can take the dragon egg."

Hagrid hesitated. "Well, at least let me hatch the egg an' see the baby dragon before we send it ter Charlie," he begged.

"Fine," said Mrs. North, deciding that it would be the best she would get out of Hagrid. "I'll write to Charlie in a few days about the dragon. By the time he replies about taking the dragon, the egg will have hatched."

The five kids grinned. They had remained silent throughout the entire conversation, allowing Mrs. North to talk Hagrid around.

A week later, at breakfast time, Hedwig brought Harry another note from Hagrid. He had written only two words: It's hatching.

Ron wanted to skip Herbology and go straight down to the hut. Hermione wouldn't hear of it.

"Hermione, how many times are we going to see a dragon hatching?"

"We've got lessons, we'll get into trouble, and that's nothing to what Hagrid's going to be in when someone finds out what he's doing -"

"Shut up!" James whispered.

Malfoy and Darryl were only a few feet away and he had stopped dead to listen. How much had they heard? James didn't like the look on their faces at all.

Ron and Hermione argued all the way down to Herbology, and in the end, Hermione agreed to run down to Hagrid's with the other four during morning break. When the bell sounded from the castle the the end of their lesson, the five of them dropped their trowels at once and hurried through the grounds to the edge of the Forest.

Hagrid greeted them looking flushed and excited. "It's nearly out." He ushered them inside.

The egg was lying on the table. There were deep cracks in it. Something was moving inside; a funny clicking noise was coming from it.  
They all drew their chairs up to the table and watched with bated breath.

All at once there was a scraping noise and the egg split open. Tha baby dragon flopped down on to the table. It wasn't exactly pretty; James thought it looked like a crumpled, black umbrella. Its spiny wings were huge compared to its skinny jet body and it had a long snout with wide nostrils, stubs od horns and bulging, orange eyes. It sneezed. A couple of sparks flew out of its snout.

"Isn't he beautiful?" Hagrid murmered. He reached out a hand to stroke the dragon's head. It snapped at his fingers, showing pointed fangs.

"Bless him, look, he knows his mummy!" said Hagrid.

"Don't get too attached, Hagrid, because he's going to Charlie soon," said Jade gently. "Oh, how fast do Norwegian Ridgeback grow, anyway?"

Hagrid was about to answer when the colour suddenly drained from his face - he leapt to his feet and ran to the window.

"What's the matter?" asked Neville.

"Someone was lookin' through the gap in the curtains - it's two kids - they're runnin' back up ter the school."

Harry bolted to the door and looked out. Even at a distance there was no mistaking them. Malfoy and Darryl had seen the dragon.

Something about the smile lurking on Malfoy and Darryl's faces during the next week made the quintet very nervous. They were quite relieved when Charlie sent a reply two days after the hatching. The five of them put their heads together to read the note.

Dear Ron and friends,  
How are you guys? Thanks for the letter - I'd be glad to take the Norwegian Ridgeback, but it won't be easy getting him here. I think the best thing will be to send him over with some friends of mine who are coming to visit me next week. Trouble is, they musn't be seen carrying an illegal dragon.  
Could you get the Ridgeback up the tallest tower at midnight on Saturday? They can meet you there and take him away while it's still dark.  
Send me an answer as soon as possible.  
Love,  
Charlie

They looked at each other. "Well, we know the Disillusionment Charm," said Jade. "We can perform it on a large piece of cloth to hide Norbert under, then do it on the two of us that's going to be carrying him.

The others nodded in agreement with this suggestion. Anything to get rid of Norbert - and Malfoy.

They found Fand the boarhound sitting outside with a bandaged tail the next day when they went to tell Hagrid, who opened a window to talk to them.

"I won't let you in," he puffed. "Norbet's at a tricky stage - nothin' I can't handle."

When they told him about Charlie's letter, his eyes filled with tears, although that might have been because Norbet had just bitten him on the leg.

"Aargh! It's all right, he only got my boot - jus' playin' - he's only a baby, after all."

The baby banged its tail on the wall, making the windows rattle. They walked back to the castle, feeling Saturday couldn't come quickly enough. After some discussion, it was decided that James and Jade would take Norbert to the tower.

Unfortunately, there was a hitch in their plan. When Ron dropped his books in the middle of the corridor the next day, Darryl picked up Charlie's letter, which had fallen out of one of the books. While the others were busy helping Ron pick up his books, Darryl read the letter. Then with a smirk, he returned the letter to Ron and walked away, whispering to Malfoy. It was too late to write to Charlie and ask for a change in plan, so they had to continue with the Saturday night plan.

They would have felt sorry for Hagrid when the time came for him to say goodbye to Norbert if they hadn't been so worried about what they had to do. It was a very dark, cloudy night and they were a bit late arriving at Hagrid's hut because they had to wait for Peeves to get out of their way in the Entrance Hall, where he'd been playing tennis against that wall.

Hagrid had Norbert packed and ready in a large crate.  
"He's got lots o' rats an' some brandy fer the journey," said Hagrid in a muffled voice. "An' I've packed his teddy bear in case he gets lonely."

From inside the crate came ripping noises that sounded to James as though teddy was having his head torn off.

"Bye-bye, Norbet!" Hagrid sobbed, as James and Jade covered the crate with the Disillusioned cloak and then did the Charm on themselves. "Mummy will never forget you!"

How they managed to get the crate back up to the castle, they never knew. Midnight ticked nearer and nearer as they heaved Norbert up the marble staircase, then another - even one of James's short cuts didn't make the work much easier.

"Nearly there!" James panted as they reached the corridor beneath the tallest tower.  
Then a sudden movement ahead of them made them almost drop the crate.

Forgetting thay they were already invisible, they shrank into the shadows, staring at the two outlines of three people grappling with each other ten feet away. A lamp flared.

Professor McGonagall, in a tartan dressing-gown and a hairnet, had Malfoy and Darryl by the ear.

"Detention!" she shouted. "And fifty points from Slytherin! Wandering around in the middle of the night, how dare you -"

"You don't understand, Professor, James North's coming - he's got a dragon!" protested Darryl.

"What utter rubbish! How dare you tell such lies! Come on - I shall see Professor Snape about you, Malfoy and Potter!"

The steep spiral staircase up to the top of the tower seemed the easiest thing in the world after that. Not until they'd stepped out into the cold night air did they remove the Disillusionment Charm. Jade did a sort of jig.

"Malfoy and Darryl both detention! I could sing!"

"Don't," James advised her. "A teacher could hear you."

Chuckling about Malfoy and Darryl, they waited. Norbert thrashing about in his crate. About ten minutes later, four broomsticks came swooping down out of the darkness.

Charlie's friends were a cheery lot. They showed Jade and Jamesthe harness they'd rigged up, so they could suspend Norbert between them.

They all helped buckle Norbert safely into it and then Jade and James shook hands with the others and thanked them very much.

At last, Norbert was going ... going ... gone.

Author's Note: Readers, what should happen next? Should Jade and James be caught and lose a hundred points plus have detention, similar to what happened in the books, or should they remember to put the Disillusionment Charm before leaving the tower? Jade is a sensible person, but in the euphoria of getting rid of Norbert, she could easily forget about the Charm like James would. So please put your decision in a review as soon as possible so I can write the next chapter. Remember, if they do get caught, then James will have the detention in the Forbidden Forest and see Voldemort drunking unicorn blood.


	14. Darryl Anton Unmasked

Authors' Notes: Most of the reviewers were against James and Jade being caught, and a few suggested that they find out about the unicorns a different way. Thanks to the **witch of light**, who suggested Snape be unreasonable and even without proof, find some way of punishing James and Jade. (Draco and Darryl would have told Snapethat the 'twins' set them up or were out of bounds.)

James was about to make his way down the stairs when Jade stopped him. "We need to do the Disillusionment Charm again!" she hissed. She quickly did the charm, then picked up the cloak that they had hidden Norbet under. The two of them made their way down the stairs. James was quite relieved that his sister had remembered about the charm. He had forgotten all about it in the euphoria of Darryl and Malfoy in detention and Norbert safely gone. If Jade had forgotten about the charm as well, they would have gone down without being hidden and if Murphy's Law had come into play, been discovered by McGonagall or Filch.

The two had reached the foot of the stairs when they froze. A few seconds later, Filch walked by, muttering to Mrs. Norris. Once the pair had gone, Jade and James continued on their way. Hermione, Ron, and Neville were waiting up for them and they were happy to hear that Norbert was safely gone. They were even happier hearing about Darryl and Malfoy being caught after curfew by McGonagall, losing fifty points for Slytherin, and landing themselves in detention.

The next day at breakfast, Darryl and Malfoy glared at the 'twins' from the Slytherin table. They were obviously furious about being caught and might even think that they had been set up.

Hagrid was pleased to hear that Norbert had been safely taken care of, though he was still sad about having to give up the dragon. Mrs. North sent a letter congratulating James and Jade, but added they should have asked her to give Norbert to Charlie's friends. It would have been safer than having the 'twins' wandering about the corridors after curfew.

Potions did not go well on Friday. Darryl and Malfoy must have told Snape that James had made up the story of the dragon and set them up. As a consequence, Snape was very nasty toward the Gryffindors, especially James and Jade. He took off thirty points from James, claiming that he was stirring the potion wrong. Then he took another twenty points from Jade for not crushing an ingredient properly. He also took off ten points from Hermione for being a know-it-all.

When James and Ron leapt to Hermione's defense, Snape snapped, "Twenty points each from Gryffindor for back talk, Weasley and North."

Jade opened her mouth to protest the unfairness, but Snape cut her off. "Thirty points from Gryffindor, Miss North. And if you say another word, it will be fifty points and a detention. Do I make myself clear?"

Jade nodded and turned her attention back to the potion. By the end of class, Gryffindor had lost one hundred and forty points. (Snape took another ten points off for something Seamus Finnigan did.) Gryffindor was now in last place, and they definitely weren't happy about it. Most of the studentswere mad at Snape, though a few also thought that James, Jade, Ron, and Neville should have kept their mouths shut. The Slytherins were the only ones that were pleased by this turn of events, and several loudly said that the Gryffindors should keep talking back to Snape and lose more points.

Twenty points were restored by McGonagall, who wasn't at all happy with Snape's unfairness. However, she couldn't restore all the points that had been taken without a valid reason.

About a week before exams began, something happened that attracted James's attention.

Walking back from the library on his own one afternoon, he heard somebody whimpering from a classroom up ahead. As he drew closer, he heard Quirrell's voice.

"No - no - not again, please-" It sounded as though someone was threatening him. James moved closer. "All right - all right -" he heard Quirrell sob.

Next second, Quirrell came hurrying out of the classroom, straightening his turban. He was pale and looked as though he was about to cry.

He strode out of sight;James didn't think Quirrell even noticed him. He waited until Quirrell's footsteps had disappeared, then peered into the classroom. It was empty, but a door stood ajar at the other end.James was halfway towards it before he realized that he had to talk to Jade and his friends about it first. He couldn't just go rushing off to do something now.

All the same, he'd have gambled twelve Philosopher's Stones that Snape had just left the room, and from whatJames had just heard, Snape would be walking with a new spring in his step - Quirrell seemed to have given in at last. However, he remembered Mulan's behavior. It looked as if Snape was the evil one, but the cat never acted as if he was around him. She was her usual self and paid very little attention to Snape. So what was really going on?

James went to the Room of Requirement, where Hermione was testing Ron on Astronomy and Jade was coaching Neville on Transfiguration. James told them what he had heard.

"Snape's done it, then!" said Ron. "If Quirrell's told him how to break his Anti-Dark Force spell -"

"There's still Fluffy, though," said Hermione.

"Maybe Snape's found out how to get past him without asking Hagrid," said Ron looking up at the thousands of books surrounding them. "I bet there's a book somewhere in here, telling you how to get past a three-headed dog. So what do we do, James?"

The light of adventure was kindling again in Ron's eyes, but Hermione answered beforeJames could.

"Go to Dumbledore. That's what we should have done ages ago. If we try anything ourselves we'll be thrown out for sure."

"But we've got no proof!" said Harry. "And how do we know that it's Snape after the Stone? Remember the way Jade's cat reacts around him? Mulan just ignores Snape and doesn't hiss or anything. From the way she reacted to Quirrell once, it seems more likely that he's the one after the Stone. If we went to Dumbledore now and claimed that Snape's after the Stone, he'd think we were getting back at Snape for taking off all those points in Potions. As for saying it's Quirrell, nobody in their right mind would believe us, with the way Quirrell's acting. He stutters and acts scared of his own shadow, for Merlin's sake! And don't forget, we're not supposed to know about the Stone ot Fluffy. That'll take a lot of explaining."

Hermione looked convinced, but Ron didn't.

"If we just do a bit of poking around -"

"No," said James flatly, "we've done enough poking around. Mum really wouldn't like it if she knew, and I really just want to focus on studying for the exams and doing well on them."

He pulled a map of Jupiter towards him and started to learn the names of its moons.

The next day, the five stopped for a brief visit with Hagrid, who looked very worried. He told them that something was attacking the unicorns in the Forbidden Forest. One had already died, while another had been injured. That evening, Darryl and Malfoy would be going with him to the Forest for their detention and help him look for the injuried unicorn. The five did their best to make Hagrid feel better and then they returned to the castle to resume revising for their exams.

The next morning, Darryl and Malfoy could be heard complaining about their detention. Malfoy thought that it was completely unfair that they had to go to the Forbidden Forest for their detention. Darryl loudly declared that they could have been killed, for they had seen a cloaked figure drinking unicorn blood and only escaped because a centaur had shown up.

That afternoon, a centaur was seen leaving the Forest and approaching the castle. Dumbledore went out to speak to him. An hour later, "Harry Potter" was summoned to the headmaster's office. By dinnertime, the entire school knew that "Harry Potter" was a fake, that Darryl Anton had been masquerading as the Boy-Who-Lived. Half the school believed that Darryl had been doing it on his father's orders, while the other half believed that he had actually been willing to pretend to be Harry Potter. All the rumors agreed that the centuar had somehow sensed that Darryl was a fake and told Dumbledore. However, the rumors on how Dumbledore proved that Darryl was a fake differed.

Some said that Dumbledore, or a goblin on Dumbledore's request, had done a blood test on Darryl. Others believed that Dumbledore had read Darryl's mind and found out the truth. Still others said that Darryl, or his father, who had been summoned, had been forced to take Veritserum and admitted the truth under questioning.

In any case, Mr. Anton would be brought to trial by the Wizengamot forthe charade, and Darryl was under probation for the remainder of his time at Hogwarts. There were rumors that if Darryl were allowed to return to Hogwarts next year, it would under probation, and he would be carefully watched. The search for Harry Potter resumed, and everyone was shocked that a fake had escaped detection for almost the entire school year. Several students were heard to say that they knew all along that something was fishy about Darryl and the only reason they hadn't turned him in as a fruad was because they had no proof.

Darryl and Malfoy got into an argument at dinner and stopped being friends. Malfoy certainly was grumpy over finding out that his best friend was a fraud.

For the rest of the week, Howlers and angry letters were sent to Dumbledore for not realizing that Darryl was a fake and to Darryl for going along with his father's insistence that he pretend to be Harry Potter. Everyone, including the Slytherins, ignored Darryl except to make fun of him, and turned him into an outcast.

James and his friends, who had at first been worried over unicorns being attacked and their blood being drunk, forgot about it in the matter with Darryl. They were very pleased that he had been unmasked. However, they didn't stay pleased for long, becuase Hermione remembered the exams and forced her friends to focus their attention on studying again.

Authors' Note: We, Lady Alianne and Elspeth25, were trying to think of some way to reveal that Darryl was a fake without involving James having to reveal himself. Lady Alianne realized that since centaurs were so intelligent and everything, they could easily see past Darryl's appearance and realize that he's a fake. Lady Elspeth decided that since Darryl and Malfoy had the detention in the Forest, Frienze would take a good look at Darryl when rescuing them from Voldemort drinking unicorn blood. Frienze realized that Darryl might not be Harry Potter and told Dumbledore the next day. Dumbledore then did Legilimency and a blood test to ascertain that Darryl is a fake and then sent a letter summoning Darryl's father. Mr. Anton showed up a couple of days later and was promptly arrested by Ministry officials. He is currently in a Ministry holding cell and his trial will be at the end of June or beginning of July.


	15. Through the Trapdoor

When the furor over Darryl Anton being unmasked died down, James remembered the Stone and Malfoy and Darryl saying that a cloaked figure had been drinking unicorn blood. He checked a library book on unicorns and found that unicorn blood would help you live, even if you were at death's door. However, it came at a terrible price, for you would have a cursed life for slaining such a pure and innocent creature just to save your own life. James shuddered when he read that and could only think of one person evil and desperate enough to do something like that: Voldemort.

His scar began hurting the instant he thought of Voldemort, and that night, he had a nightmare about his parents' deaths. In it, his father was shouting for Lily to take Harry and run. Then the door had burst open and James Potter had fought for his life, but in the end was killed by Voldemort shouting "Avada Kedavra!" James had no idea what the spell was, but from the way his father had fallen in death a second later, he guessed that it must have some sort of Killing Curse.

The scene had then shifted to a nursery, where Lily Potter was picking up her baby son from his crib. The door smashed open and Voldemort strode in. Lily screamed and quickly placed baby Harry back in the crib. Voldemort demanded that Lily move aside, calling her 'foolish girl." However, she refused to do so, pleading for him to spare Harry and take her instead. Finally Voldemort cast another Killing Curse and Lily collapsed to the ground, dead. Then the Dark Lord raised his wand and pointed it at baby Harry. Voldemort shouted "Avada Kedavra!" and just as a green beam of light shot out ofthe wand, James woke up.

After several seconds of heavy breathing, James realized that he had not just had a nightmare, but had actually dreamed about his parents' deaths. He really had no way of knowing if it was accurate, but it seemed as if it was. His scar started hurting again and he began rubbing it, though it didn't help the pain any. It was only after he took out his History of Magic notes and forced himself to read them that he was able to take his mind off the dream and stop his scar from prickling.

The next morning, James told his friends about the nightmare. They all looked shocked and tried to find ways to comfort him. After awhile, he changed the subject to the exams. However, he couldn't help feeling as if something was very wrong. As Voldemort was the only person that would drink unicorn blood, it stood to reason that he was after the Stone and either Snape or Quirrell were just helping him. James half expected Voldemort to come bursting into Hogwarts soon and go after the Stone. In the years to come, James really didn't know how he got through all his worry and the exams. Yet the days crept by and there could be no doubt that Fluffy was still alive and well behind the locked door.

It was sweltering hot, especially in the large classroom where they did their written papers. They had been given special, new quills for the exams, which had been bewitched with an Anti-Cheating spell.

They had practical exams as well. Professor Flitwick called them one by one into his class to see if they could make a pineapple tap dance across a desk. McGonagall watched them turn a mouse into a snuff-box- points were given for how pretty the snuff-box was, but taken away if it had whiskers. Snape made them all nervous, breathing down their necks while they tried to remember how to make a Forgetfulness potion.

James did the best he could, trying to ignore the stabbing pain in his forehead, which had been bothering him ever since his nightmare of his parents' deaths. He kept having variations on the nightmare, as well. None of his friends could help him, and his mother didn't know very much about curse scars and couldn't help him either.

Maybe it was because they didn't have parent's that had been killed by Voldemort, or because they didn't have scars burning on their foreheads, but his friends didn't seem as worried about the Stone as him. The idea of Voldemort certainly scared them, but he didn't keep visiting them in dreams, and they were so busy with their revision they didn't have much time to fret about what Quirrell, Snape, or anyone else might be up to.

Jade was the only one that took things as seriously as James, though she was also busy with revision and couldn't worry about the Stone too much. She also had nightmares, though not as frequently as her 'twin'. The only reason she had them was because her mother had did a spell that made Jade and James be more than just adopted siblings not long after Harry Potter had become James North. It had involved pricking of fingers and a drop of blood from each child mingling together and a long, complicated spell.

Their last exam was History of Magic. One hour of answering questions about batty old wizards who'd invented self-stirring cauldrons and they'd be free, free for a whole wonderful week until their exam results came out. When Professor Binns told them to put down their quills and roll up their parchment, James couldn't help cheering with the rest.

"That was far easier than I thought it would be," said Hermione, as they joined the crowds flocking out into the sunny grounds. "I needn't have learnt about the 1637 Werewolf Code of Conduct or the uprising of Elfric the Eager."

Hermione always liked to go through their exam papers afterwards, but Ron said this made him feel ill, so they wandered down to the lake and flopped under a tree. The Weasley twins and Lee Jordan were ticking the tentacles of a giant squid, which was basking in the warm shallows. "No more revision," Ron sighed happily, stretching out on the grass. "You could look more cheerful, James, we've got a week before we find put how badly we've done, there's no need to worry yet."

James was rubbing his forehead. "I wish I knew what this _means_!" he burst out angrily. "My scar keeps hurting – it's happened before, but never as often as this. And I can't go see Madam Pomfrey or anyone else about it without revealing who I really am."

"Well, something has to be done," said Jade. "Why does your scar keep hurting?"

'I think it's a warning... it means danger coming," answered James.

Ron couldn't get worked up, it was too hot. "James, relax, the Stone's safe as long as Dumbledore's around. Anyway we've never had any proof that Snape or Quirrell found out how to get past Fluffy. And Neville will play Quidditch for England before Hagrid lets Dumbledore down. No offense, Neville."

"None taken," responded Neville, plucking at the grass around him.

James nodded, but he couldn't shake off a lurking feeling that there was something he'd forgotten to do, something important. When he tried to explain this, Hermione said, "That's just the exams. I woke up last night and was halfway through my Transfiguration notes before I remembered that we'd done that one."

James was quite sure the unsettled feeling didn't have anything to do with work, though. He watched an owl flutter towards the school across the bright blue sky, a note clamped in its mouth. Besides his mother, Hagrid was the only one who ever sent him letters. Hagrid would never betray Dumbledore. Hagrid would never tell anyone how to get past Fluffy... never... but – James suddenly jumped to his feet.

"Where're you going?" inquired Ron sleepily.

"I just thought of something," replied James. "We've got to go and see Hagrid, now."

"Why?" panted Hermione, hurrying to keep up. Jade had gone white. Obviously what had occurred to James had also occurred to her.

"Don't you think it's a bit odd, said Jade, scrambling up the grassy slope, "that what Hagrid wants more than anything else is a dragon, and a stranger turns up who just happens to have an egg in his pocket? How many people wander around with dragon eggs if it's against wizard law? Lucky they found Hagrid, don't you think?"

"What are you on about?" demanded Ron, but neither James or Jade answered.

Hagrid was sitting in an armchair outside his house; his trousers and sleeves were rolled up and he was shelling peas into a large bowl.

"Hullo," he said, smiling. "Finished yer exams? Got time fer a drink?"

"Yes, please," said Ron, but James cut across him

"No, we're in a hurry. Hagrid, I've got to ask you something. You know the night you won Norbert? What did the stranger you were playing card with look like?"

"Dunno," said Hagrid casually, "he wouldn' take his cloak off." He saw the five of them looked stunned and raised his eyebrows. "It's not that unusual, yeh get a lot o' funny folk in the Hog's Head – that's one o' the pub down in the village. Mighta bin a dragon dealer, mightn' he? I never saw his face, he kept his hood up."

James sank down next to the bowl of peas.

"What did you talk to him about, Hagrid? Did you mention Hogwarts at all?"

"Mighta come up," said Hagrid, frowning as he tried to remember. "Yeah ... he asked what I did, an' I told him I was gamekeeper here ... He asked a bit about the sorta creatures I look after... so I told him... an' I said what I'd always really wanted was a dragon... an' then... I can' remember too well, 'cause he kept buyin' me drinks... Let's see... yeah, then he said he had the dragon egg an' we could play cards fer it if I wanted... but he had ter be sure I could handle it, he didn' want it ter go ter any old home... So I told him, after Fluffy, a dragon would be easy ..."

"And did he seem – interested in Fluffy?" James asked, trying to keep his voice calm.

"Well – yeah – how many three-headed dogs d'yeh meet, even around Hogwarts? So I told him, Fluffy's a piece o' cake if yeh know how to calm him down, jus' play him a bit o' music an' he'll go straight off ter sleep –" Hagrid suddenly looked horrified. "I shouldn'ta told yeh that!" he blurted out. "Forget I said it! Hey - where're yeh goin'?"

The five of them didn't speak to each other at all until they came to a halt in the Entrance Hall, which seemed very cold and gloomy after the grounds.

"We've got to go to Dumbledore," said James. "Hagrid told that strager how to get past Fluffy and it was either Snape, Quirrell,or Voldemort under that cloak - it must've been easy, once he'd got Hagrid drunk. I just hope Dumbledore believes us.And maybe we'd better write to Mum, explain everything, and ask her for advice. Where's Dumbledore's office?"

They looked around, as if hoping to see a sign pointing them in the right direction. They had never been told where Dumbledore lived, nor did they know anyone who had been sent to see him.

"We'll just have to -" James began, but a voice suddenly rang across the hall.

"What are you three doing inside?" It was Professor McGonagall, carrying a large pile of books.

"We want to see Professor Dumbledore," said Hermione, rather bravely,James thought.

"See Professor Dumbledore?" Professor McGonagall repeated, as though this was a very fishy thing to want to do. "Why?"

James swallowed - now what? "It's sort of secret," he said, but he wished at once he hadn't, because Professor McGonagall's nostrils flared.

"Professor Dumbledore left ten minutes ago," she said coldly. "He received an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic and flew off for London at once."

"He's gone?" said James frantically. "Now?"

"Professor Dumbledore is a very great wizard, North, he has many demands on his time -"

"But this is important!" protested Jade.

"Something you have to say is more important than the Ministry of Magic, Miss North?"

"Look," said James, throwing caution to the winds, "Professor - it's about the Philosopher's Stone -"

Whatever Professor McGonagall had expected, it wasn't that. The books she was carrying tumbled out of her arms but she didn't pick them up. "How do you know -?" she spluttered.

"Professor, I think - I know - that someone's going to try and steal the Stone. I've got to talk to Professor Dumbledore."

She eyed him with a mixture of shock and suspicion.

"Professor Dumbledore will be back tomorrow," she said finally. "I don't know how you found out about the Stone, but rest assured, no one can possibly steal it, it's too well protected."

"But Professor -"

"North, I know what I'm talking about," she said shortly.

She bent down and gathered up the fallen books. "I suggest you all go back outside and enjoy the sunshine."

But they didn't. "It's tonight," said James, once he was sure Professor McGonagall was out of earshot. "Snape or Quirrell's going through the trapdoor tonight. He's found out everything he needs and now he's got Dumbledore out of the way. He sent that note, I bet the Ministry of Magic will get a real shock when Dumbledore turns up. And it's too late to ask Mum for advice now. Hedwig would never reach her and be back with a reply before tonight, not unless she can fly at the speed of light."

"But what can we -" began Jade.

Hermione gasped.The others wheeled round.

Snape was standing there. "Good afternoon," he said smoothly.

They stared at him.

"You shouldn't be inside on a day like this," he said, with an odd, twisted smile.

"We were -" James began, without any idea what he was going to say.

"You want to be more careful," said Snape. "Hanging around like this, people will think you're up to something. And Gryffindor really can't afford to lose any more points, can they?" James flushed. They turned to go back outside, but Snape called them back. "Be warned, North - any more night-time wanderings or trying to get one of the Slytherins in trouble, and I will personally make sure you are expelled. Good day to you."

He strode off in the direction of the staff room.

Out on the stone steps, James turned to the others.  
"Right, here's what we've got to do," he whispered urgently. "One of us has got to keep an eye on Snape and another on Quirrell- wait outside the staff room and follow them if they leave it. Hermione and Jade, you two had better do that."

"Why us?" asked Jade.

"It's obvious," said Ron. "You can pretend to be waiting for Professor Flitwick or some other teacher, you know." He put on a high voice, "Oh Professor Flitwick, I'm so worried, I think I got question fourteen b wrong ..."

"Oh, shut up," said Hermione, but she and Jade agreed to go and watch out for Snape.

"And we'd better stay outside the third-floor corrridor," James told the others. "Come on."

But that part of the plan didn't work. No sooner had they reached the door separating Fluffy from the rest of the school than Professor McGonagall turned up again, and this time, she lost her temper.

"I suppose you think you're harder to get past than a pack of enchantments!" she stormed. "Enough of this nonsense! If I hear that you've come anywhere near here again, I'll take fifty points off Gryffindor! Yes, Weasley, from my own house!"

James, Neville, and Ron went back to the common room. James had just said, "At least Hermione and Jade are on Snape's and Quirrell's tails," when the portrait of the Fat Lady swung open and Jade and Hermione came in.

"I'm sorry, James," Hermione wailed. "Snape came out and asked Jade and me what we were doing, so we said we were waiting for Flitwick, and Snape went to get him, and we've only just got away. I don't know where Snape went."

"And the same goes for Quirrell," sighed Jade. "He came out while we were talking to Flitwick and I have no idea where he went."

"Well that's it then, isn't it?" James said. The other four stared at him. He was pale and his eyes were glittering. "I'm going out of here tonight and I'm going to try and get to the Stone first."

"You're mad!" exclaimed Ron.

"You can't!" cried Hermione. "After what McGonagall and Snape have said? You'll be expelled!"

"SO WHAT?" James shouted. "Don't you understand? If Snape gets hold of the Stone, Voldemort's coming back! Haven't you heard what it was like when he was trying to take over? There won't be any Hogwarts to get expelled from! He'll flatten it, or turn it into a school for the Dark Arts! Losing points doesn't matter any more, can't you see? D'you think he'll leave you and your families alone if Gryffindor win the House Cup? If I get caught before I can get to the Stone, well, I'll just have to go back home and wait for Voldemort to find me there. It's only dying a bit later than I would have done, because I'm never going over to the Dark Side! I'm going through that trapdoor tonight and nothing any of you four say is going to stop me! Voldemort killed my parents, remember?" He glared at them.

"You're right, James," said Hermione in a small voice.

"And I have no intention of stopping you," said Jade. "I'm coming with you."

"You are not!" exclaimed James, staring at his adoptive sister. "It's too dangerous for you."

"Are you crazy?" snapped Jade. "I've told you before that I'm supporting you no matter what."

"And the rest of us are coming with you too, James," said Neville firmly, his face set. Ron and Hermione nodded in agreement.

James turned to stare at them. "You three are coming with me? But - but - it's dangerous!"

"We don't care!" said Ron fiercely. "We're your friends, and are coming with you. You could need the help. Besides, have you forgotten that we've promised to help you? And we all swore to work together to defeat the Dark Lord when the time came. Well, don't you think that it's time? You-Know-Who's after the Stone and he needs to be stopped before he can regain power."

"But if we get caught, then you guys will be expelled as well!" protested James.

"Not if I can help it," said Hermione grimly. "Flitwick told me in secret that I got a hundred and twelve per cent on his exam. They're not throwing me out after that."

After dinner the three of them sat nervously apart in the common room. Nobody bothered them. Hermione and Jade were skimming through all their notes, hoping to come across one of the enchantments they were about to try and break. James, Neville, and Ron didn't talk much.The three of them were thinking about what they were about to do. James went up once to the dormitory and got the flute Hagrid had given him for Christmas. He pocketed it to use on Fluffy - he didn't feel much like singing.

Slowly, the room emptied as people drifted off to bed. Lee Jordan finally left, stretching and yawning. The five of them did the Disillusionment Charms on themselves and snuck out the common room, feeling nervous. In their nervous state, every statue's shadow looked like Filch, every distant breath of wind sounded like Peeves swooping down on them.

At the foot of the first set of stairs, they spotted Mrs. Norris skulking near the top.  
"Oh, let's kick her, just this once," Ron whispered in James's ear, but James whispered back a 'no.'. As they climbed carefully around her, Mrs. Norris turned her lamp-like eyes on them, but didn't do anything.

Finally, they were there, outside the third-floor corridor - and the door was already ajar.

"Well, there you are," said James quietly. "Snape or Quirrell have already got past Fluffy."  
Seeing the open door seemed to impress upon all five of them what was facing them. James turned in the general direction of the other four, as he couldn't see them.

"If you want to go back, I won't blame you," he said.

"We're coming, James," said Neville firmly. Ever since the encouragement that his friends had given him after Malfoy putting him under the Leg-Locker Curse, Neville had gained confidence and was acting like a true Gryffindor.

"Yeah," seconded Ron. "Don't be stupid."

James pushed the door open. As the door creaked, low, rumbling growls met their ears. All three of the dog's noses sniffed madly in their direction, even though it couldn't see them.

"What's that at its feet?" Hermione whispered.

"Looks like a harp," said Ron. "Snape or Quirrell must have left it there."

"It must wake up the moment you stop playing," said James. "Well, here goes ..."

He put Hagrid's flute to his lips and blew. It wasn't really a tune, but from the first note the beast's eyes began to droop. James hardly drew breath. Slowly, the dog's growls ceased - it tottered on its paws and fell on its knees, then it slumped to the ground, fast asleep.

"Keep playing," Ron warned James as Hermione and Jade removed the Disillusionment Charm from them all and they crept towards the trapdoor. They could feel the dog's hot, smelly breath as they approached the giant heads.

"I think we'll be able to pull the door open," said Ron, peering over the dog's back. "Who wants to go first?" No one replied.

"All right," said Ron, gritting his teeth and stepping carefully over the dog's legs. He bent and pulled the ring of the trapdoor, which swung up and open.

"What can you see?" asked Jade anxiously.

"Nothing - just black - there's no way of climbing down, we'll just have to drop."

James, who was still playing the flute, waved at Ron to get his attention and pointed at himself.

"You want to go first? Are you sure?" said Ron. "I don't know how deep this thing goes. Give the flute to Hermione so she can keep him asleep."

Jameshanded the flute over. In the few seconds' silence, the dog growled at twitched, but the moment Hermione began to play, it fell back into its deep sleep.

Jamesclimbed over it and looked down through the trapdoor. There was no sign of the bottom.

He lowered himself through the hole until he was hanging on by his fingertips. Then he looked up at Ron, Jade, and Neville and said, "If anything happens to me, don't follow. Go straight to the owlery and send Hedwig to Dumbledore, right?"

"Right," said Ron.

"See you in a minute, I hope ..." And James let go.

Cold, damp air rushed past him as he fell down, down, down and - FLUMP.

With a funny sort of thump he landed on something soft.

He sat up and felt around, his eyesnot used to the gloom. It felt as though he was sitting on some sort of plant.  
"It's OK!" he called up o the light the size of a postage stamp which was the open trapdoor. "It's a soft landing, you can jump!"

Ron followed straight away. He landed sprawled next to James. "What's this stuff?" were his first words.

"Dunno, sort of plant thing. I suppose it's here to break the fall. Come on, you guys!"

Jade jumped down, followed by Neville. Then the distant music stopped. There was a loud bark from the dog, but Hermione had already jumped. She landed on Neville's other side.

"We must be miles under the school," she said.

"Lucky this plant thing's here, really," said Ron.

"Lucky!" shrieked Hermione. "Look at you guys!"

She leapt up and struggled towards a damp wall, followed by Neville. They had to struggle because the moment they had landed, the plant had started to twist snake-like tendrils around her ankles. As for James, Jade, and Ron, their legs had already been bound tightly in long creepers without their noticing.

Hermione and Neville had managed to free themselves before the plant got a firm grip on them. Now they watched in horror as the other three fought to pull the plant off them, but the more they strained against it, the tighter and faster the plant wound round them.

"Stop moving!" shouted Neville. "I know this plant! It's a Devil's Snare!"

"Oh, I'm so glad we know what it's called, that's a great help," snarled Ron, leaning back, trying to stop the plant curling around his neck.

"Shut up!" snapped Neville. "I need to think! Devil's Snare, Devil's Snare ... What did Professor Sprout say? It likes the dark and the damp - Hermione, you need to light a fire! Since I'm not great a making one."

"Yes - of course - but there's no wood!" Hermione cried, wringing her hands.

"HAVE YOU GONE MAD?" Ron bellowed. "ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT?"

"Oh, right!" said Hermione, and she whipped out her wand, waved it, muttered something and sent a jet of bluebell flames.

In a matter of seconds, the'twins' and Ron felt it loosening its grip as it cringed away from the light and warmth. Wriggling and flailing, it unravelled itself from their bodies and they were able to pull free.

"Lucky you pay attention in Herbology, Neville," said James as he joined Hermione and Neville by the wall, wiping sweat off his face.

"Yeah," said Ron, "and lucky Neville doesn't lose his head in a crisis - 'there's no wood', honestly." Hermione blushed.

"This way," said James, pointing down a stone passageway which was the only way on.

All they could hear apart from their footsteps was the gentle drip of water trickling down the walls. The passageway sloped downwards and James was reminded of Gringotts.

With an unpleasant jolt of the heart, he remembered the dragons said to be guarding vaults in the wizards' bank. If they met a dragon, a fully grown dragon - Norbert had been enough ...

"Can you hear something?" Ron whispered.

James listened. A soft rushing and clinking seemed to be coming from up ahead. "Do you think it's a ghost?" asked Neville.

"I don't know ... sounds like wings to me," responded James. "There's a light ahead - I can see something moving."

They reached the end of the passageway and saw before them a brilliantly lit chamber, its ceiling arching high above them. It was full of small, jewel-bright birds, fluttering and tumbling all around the room. On the opposite side of the chamber was a heavy, wooden door.

"Do you think they'll attack us if we cross the room?" asked Ron.

"Probably," said James. "They don't look very vicious, but I suppose if they all swooped down at once ... Well, there's nothing for it ... I'll run."

He took a deep breath, covered his face with his arms and sprinted across the room. He expected to feel sharp beaks and claws tearing at him any second, but nothing happened.

He reached the door untouched. he puled the handle, but it was locked. The other four followed him. They tugged and heaved at the door, but it wouldn't budge, not even when they tried the Alohomora Charm.

"Now what?" asked Ron in mild despair.

"These birds ... they can't be here just for decoration," said Hermione.

They watched the birds soaring overhead, glittering - glittering?

"They're not birds!" James said suddenly, "they're keys! Winged keys - look carefully. So that must mean ..." He looked around the chamber while the other two squinted up at the flock of keys. "... yes - look! Broomsticks! We've got to catch the key to the door!"

"But there are hundreds of them!" protested Jade.

Ron examined the lock on the door. "We're looking for a big, old-fashioned one - probably silver, like the handle. Neville, you don't have to take part, since you're not that great on a broom. The rest of us will look for the key."

They seized a broomstick each and kicked off into the air, soaring into the midst of the cloud of keys. They grabbed and snatched but the bewitched keys darted and dived so quickly it was almost impossible to catch one.

Not for nothing, though, was James the youngest Seeker in a century. He had a knack for spotting things other people didn't. After a minute's weaving about through the whirl of rainbow feathers, he noticed a large silver key that had a bent wing, as if it had already been caught and stuffed roughly into the keyhole.

"That one!" he called to the others. "That big one - there - no, there - with bright blue wings - the feathers are all crumpled on one side."

Ron went speeding in the direction that James was pointing, crashed into the ceiling and nearly fell off his broom.

"We've got to close in on it!" James called, not taking his eyes off the key with the damaged wing. "Ron, you come up at it from above - Hermione, stay below and stop it going down - Jade come from the left, and I'll try and catch it. Right, NOW!"

Ron dived, Hermione rocketed upwards, Jade flew from the left, the key dodged the three and James streaked after it; it sped towards the wall, James leant forward and with a nasty crunching noise, pinned it against the stone with one hand.

The others' cheers echoed around the high chamber. They landed quickly and James ran to the door, the key struggling in his hand. He rammed it into the lock and turned - it worked.

The moment the lock had clicked open, the key took flight again, looking very battered now that it had been caught twice.

"Ready?" James asked the other four, his hand on the door handle. they nodded. he pulled the door open.

The next chamber was so dark they couldn't see anything at all. But as they stepped into it, light suddenly flooded the room to reveal an astonishing sight. They were standing on the edge od a huge chessboard, behind the black chessmen, which were all taller than they were and carved from what looked like black stone.

Facing them, way across the chamner, were the white pieces. The five of them shivered slightly - the towering white chessmen had no faces.

"Now what do we do?" James whispered.

"It's obvious, isn't it?" said Ron. "We've got to play our way across the room."

Behind the white pieces they could see another door.

"How?" asked Hermione nervously.

"I think," answered Ron, "we're going to have to be chessmen."

He walked up to a black knight and put his hand out to touch the knight's horse. At once, the stone sprang to life. The horse pawed the ground and the knight turned his helmeted head to look down at Ron. "Do we - er - have to join you to get across?"

The black knight nodded.

Ron turned to the other four. "This wants thinking about ..." he said. "I suppose we've got to take the place of three black pieces ..." They stayed quiet, watching Ron think. Finally he said, "Now, don't be offended or anything, but none of you are that good at chess -"

"We're not offended," said James quickly. "Just tell us what to do."

"Well, Neville, you take the place of that bishop, and Hermione, you go next to him instead of that castle. James, you take the place of the king, and Jade, you go next to him as the queen."

"What about you?" inquired Jade.

"I'm going to be a knight," said Ron.

The chessmen seemed to have been listening, because at these words a knight, a bishop, a castle, the king, and the queen turned their backs on the white pieces and walked off the board leaving five empty squares which the five kids took.

"White always plays first in chess," said Ron, peering across the board. "Yes ... look ..."  
A white pawn had moved forward two squares.

Ron started to direct the black pieces. They moved silently wherever he sent them. James's knees were trembling. What if they lost?

"Neville - move diagonally four squares to the right."

Their first real shock came when their other knight was taken. The white queen smashed him to the floor and dragged him off the board, where he lay quite still, face down.

"Had to let that happen," said Ron, looking shaken. "Leaves you free to take that bishop, Hermione, go on."

Every time one of their men was lost, the white pieces showed no mercy. Soon there was a huddle of limp black players slumped along the wall. Twice, Ron only just noticed in time that the otherswere in danger.

He himself darted around the board taking almost as many white pieces as they had lost black ones.

"We're nearly there," he muttered suddenly. "Let me think - let me think ..." The white queen turned her blank face towards him. "Yes ..." said Ron softly, "it's the only way ... I've got to be taken."

"NO!" the other four shouted.

"That's chess!" snapped Ron. "You've got to make some sacrifices! I take one step forward and she'll take me - that leaves you free to checkmate the king, Neville!"

"But -" began James.

"Do you want to stope Snape or not?"

"Ron -" protested Neville.

"Look, if you don't hurry up, he'll already have the Stone!"

There was nothing else for it. "Ready?" Ron called, his face pale but determined. "Here I go - now, don't hang around once you've won."

He stepped forward and the white queen pounced. She struck Ron hard around the head with her stone arm and he crashed to the floor - Hermione screamed but stayed on her square - the white queen dragged Ron to one side. He looked as if he'd been knocked out.

Shaking, Neville moved three spaces to the left.  
The white king took off his crown and threw it at Neville's feet. They had won.

The chessmen parted and bowed, leaving the door ahead clear. With one last desperate look at Ron, the others charged through the door and up the next passageway.

"What if he's -?" began Hermione.

"He'll be alright," said James, trying to convince himself. "What do you reckon's next?"

"We've had Sprout's, that was the Devil's Snare - Flitwick must've put charms on the keys - McGonagall transfigured the chessmen to make them alive - that leave's Quirrell's spell, and Snape's ..."

They had reached another door. "All right?" James whispered.  
"Go on," replied Jade.

James pushed it open. A disgusting smell filled their nostrils, making both of them pull their robes up over their noses. Eyes watering, they saw, flat on the floor in front of them, a troll, out cold with a bloody lump on its head.

"I'm glad we didn't have to fight it," James whispered, as they stepped carefully over one of its massive legs. "Come on, I can't breathe."

He pulled open the next door, both of them hardly daring to look at what came next - but there was nothing very frightening in here, just a table with seven differently shaped bottles standing on it in a line.

"Snape's," said James. "What do we have to do?"

They stepped over the threshold and immediately a fire sprang up behind them in the doorway. It wasn't ordinary fire either; it was purple. At the same instant, black flames shot up in the doorway leading onwards. they were trapped.

"Look!" Hermione seized a roll of paper lying next to the bottles.The other three looked over her shoulder to read it:

_Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind,  
Two of us will help you, whichever you would find,  
One among us seven will let you move ahead,  
Another will transport the drinker back instead,  
Two of our number hold only nettled wine,  
Three of us are killers, waiting hidden in line.  
Choose, unless you wish to stay here for evermore,  
To help you in your choice, we give you these clues four:  
First, however slyly the poison tried to hise  
You will always find some on nettles wine's left side;  
Second, different are those who stand at either end,  
But if you would move onwards, neither is your friend;  
Third, as you see clearly, are all different size,  
Neither dwarf or giant holds death in their insides;  
Fourth, the second left and the second on the right  
Are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight._

Hermione let out a great sigh and James, amazed, saw that she was smiling, the very last thing he felt like doing.

"Brilliant," said Hermione. "This isn't magic - it's logic - a puzzle. A lot of the greatest wizards haven't got an ounce of logic, they'd be stuck in here for ever."

"But so will we, won't we?"

"Of course not," said Hermione. "Everything we need is here on this paper. Seven bottles: three are poison; two are wine; one will get us safely through the black fire and one will get us back through the purple."

"But how do we know which to drink?"

"Give Hermione and me some time to work it out," said Jade. She and Hermione read the paper several times. Then they walked up and down the line of bottles muttering to themselves and pointing at them. At last, Jade clapped her hands.

"Got it," she said. "The smallest bottle will get us through the black fire - towards the Stone."

James looked at the tiny bottle. "There's isn't enough for all four of us," he said. "Just for one, or maybe two." They looked at each other. "Which one will get you guys back through the purple flames?"

Hermione pointed at a rounded bottle at the right end of the line.

"You three drink that," said James. "No listen - get back and get Ron - grab brooms from the flying-key room, they'll get you out of the trapdoor and past Fluffy - go straight to the owelry and send Hedwig to Dumbledore, we need him. I might be able to hold Snape off for a while, but I'm no match for him really."

"But, James - what if You-Know-Who's with him?"

"Well - I was lucky once, wasn't I?" said James, pointing at his hidden scar. "I might get lucky again."

"Well, I'm coming with you," said Jade in a tone of voice that brooked no argument. "I'm your twin sister through that spell Mum set up, and I refuse to let you go through this alone. We've been through everything together and we're not about to separate now."

James realized that it was futile to talk his 'twin' out of it, so he just nodded. Hermione's lip trembled and she suddenly dashed at him and threw her arms around him.

"Hermione!"

"James - you're a great wizard, you know."

"I'm not as good as you," said James, very embarrassed, as she let go of him.

"Me!" said Hermione. "Books! And cleverness! There are more important things - friendship and bravery and - oh James - be careful!"

Neville hesitated, then hugged James as well. "I'm glad to have you for a friend, James," he said quietly. "Don't get yourself killed or anything, okay? Or I'll be really mad and will have to kill you." James managed a weak chuckle at this.

"Thanks, Neville," said Harry. "Okay, you two drink first. You are sure which is which, aren't you, Hermione?"

"Positive," answered Hermione. She took a drink from the round bottle at the end and shuddered.

"It's not poison?" said James anxiously.

"No - but it's like ice."

"Quick, go, before it wears off."

"Good luck - take care -"

"GO!"  
Hermione turned and walked straight through the purple fire. Neville then took a drink, wished James and Jade luck as well, then followed Hermione through the purple fire.

James took a deep breath and picked up the smallest bottle. He turned to face the black flames.

"Here I come," he said and he took a sip from the little bottle.

It was indeed as though ice was flooding his body. He handed the bottle to Jade, who finished off the rest of the potion, and the two walked forward; they braced themselves, saw the black flames licking their bodies, but couldn't feel them - for a moment they could see nothing but dark fire - then they were on the other side, in the last chamber.

There was already someone there - but it wasn't Snape, which didn't really surprise them. It wasn't even Voldemort.


	16. Facing Moldywart, er, Voldemort

Authors' Note: Calling Voldemort "Moldywart" is taken from The Marauders and Lily read the HP books series. 'Moldyshorts' is not our invention and is most likely borrowed from some other fanfic, though we don't know which one.

It was Quirrell. "You!" gasped James.

Quirrell turned and looked at the 'twins', surprise evident on his face. "What are you two doing here?" he demanded. 

"Stopping you from getting the Stone and presenting it to Voldemort," spat Jade.

Quirrell's face darkened. "How dare you say the Dark Lord's name!" he snapped, all trace of a stutter gone.

"I can say his name if I want!" retorted Jade. "Actually, now that you mention it, I guess I won't call him by his name. Instead, I think I'll call him ... hmm ... I know! I'll call him Moldywart. Or would Moldyshorts be a better name?"

James stifled a snicker and said, "Both would be appropriate names to call him by, Jade."

Quirrell looked even angrier. "How dare you call the Dark Lord names! He will make the two of you suffer when he gets his hands on the Stone and regains a proper body!"

"Oooh, I'm so scared," mocked James. Actually, he was somewhat scared, but he didn't show it, and he knew that his mocking would enrage Quirrell and perhaps cause him to make a mistake.

"Well, if you're not scared now, you will be when the Dark Lord comes back into power!" snapped Quirrell. "You two are Mudbloods, because your parents were, and you'll be among the first to die!"

"Moldywart, Moldywart, what a rotter. He tried to kill Harry Potter. Raised his wand and did a spell, only to end up as a shell," chanted Jade, grinning at the rhyme that she had invented spur-of-the-moment.

"SHUT UP!" roared Quirrell. He snapped his fingers and ropes sprang out of thin air and wrapped themselves tightly around Jade and James. "The two of you wait quietly while I examine this interesting mirror." 

It was only then that the 'twins' realised what was standing behind Quirrell. It was the Mirror of Erised.

"This mirror is the key to finding the Stone," Quirrell murmered, tapping his way around the frame. "Trust Dumbledore to come up with something like this ... but he's in London ... I'll be far away by the time he gets back ..." 

"This is the song that never ends, yes it goes on and on my friends," sang Jade loudly, ignoring Quirrell's order to be quiet in order to distract him from his examination of the Mirror or Erised. "Some people started singing it without knowing what it was, and they'll be singing it forever just because this is the song that never ends, yes it goes on and on my -"

"Be quiet and stop singing that annoying song, Miss North!" snapped Quirrell.

Jade did as asked, but James, realizing what his sister had been up to, started singing the song "Brazzle Dazzle Day" from the Disney movie _Pete's Dragon_. He really had no idea why that song popped into his head, for it was cheerful one.

Halfway through the line "Finding a boat you can cruise on," Quirrell ordered him to stop singing the song. James did so, but Jade took up singing again, this time the song "Beauty and the Beast," from the new Disney movie she had seen over Christmas.

She had only gotten as far as "Tale as old as time/True as it can be" when Quirrell whirled around and snapped, "If the two of you don't stop your singing, there will be dire consequences!"

"Well, answer this question," said James. "I suppose Snape was trying to find out how far you'd gotten in figuring out the Stone's defenses? I overheard your conversation with him in the Forest."

"Yes," said Quirrell idly, walking around the Mirror to look at the back. "He was on to me by that time, trying to find out how far I'd got. He suspected me all along. Tried to frighten me - as though he could, when I had Lord Voldemort on my side ..."

Quirrell came back out from behind the Mirror and stared hungrily into it. "I see the Stone ... I'm presenting it to my master ... but where is it?"

"I heard you a few days ago, sobbing - it sounded like Snape was threatening you ..." remarked James.

For the first time, a spasm of fear flitted across Quirrell's face.  
"Sometimes," he said, "I find it hard to follow my master's instructions - he is a great wizard and I am weak -"

"You mean he was there in the classroom with you?" Harry gasped. 

"He is with me wherever I go," said Quirrell quietly. "I met him when I travelled around the world. A foolish young man I was then, full of ridiculous ideas about good and evil. Lord Voldemort showed me how wrong I was. There is no good and evil, ther is only power, and those too weak to seek it ... Since then, I have served him faithfully, although I have let him down many times. he has had to be very hard on me." Quirrell shivered suddenly. "He does not forgive mistakes easily. When I failed to steal the Stone from Gringotts, he was most displeased. He punished me ... decided he would have to keep a closer watch on me ..."

"So he decided to possess you," stated Jade. "He's on the back of your head or something. That would explain your turban."

Quirrell turned and stared at her. "How in the world did you figure that out?"

"I'm not stupid," retorted Jade. "That was the only logical explanation when you said Moldywart was with you wherever you go."

James was impressed. He was smart, but he didn't always figure things out as quickly as Jade did. "Your whole stuttering and being scared of your own shadow was just an act, wasn't it?" he snapped. "You wanted everyone to think you were a harmless and scared person who wouldn't dare do anything like this. However, the act never fooled Mulan. You know, the cat my sister has. The one time Mulan was around you, she basically threw a fit and tried to scratch you. However, she never acted that way around Snape, so Jade and I figured that it was more likely that you were the one after the Stone."

"Stupid cat," muttered Quirrell. "Now, what does this mirror do? How does it work? Help me, Master!"

A voice that seemed to come from Quirrell himself answered. "Use the children ... use the children ..."

Quirrell rounded on the 'twins'. "Yes - Miss and Mr. North - come here." He clapped his hands once and the ropes binding them fell off. Jade and James got slowly to their feet. "Come here," Quirrell repeated. "Look in the Mirror and tell me what you see."

The two walked towards him, feeling nervous and scared, but not showing it. Jade stood in front of the Mirror, while James stood behind her, with one hand on her shoulder. Quirrell came to stand close behind them.

Jade saw her reflection, pale and scared-looking at first. But a moment later, the reflection smiled at her. It put its hand into its pocket and pulled out a blood-red stone. It winked and put the Stone back in its pocket - and as it did so, she felt something heavy drop into his real pocket. Somehow - incredibly - she'd got the Stone.

She quickly moved James's other hand to her pocket so that he could feel the Stone in it. He blinked, but otherwise showed no sign of surprise.

"Well?" said Quirrell impatiently. "What do you see?"

"I see myself with Professor McGonagall, who is congratulating me for having the top marks in all the exams," invented Jade.

Quirrell cursed and James turned around and snapped, "Watch your language! You can't use such words! If my mother heard you, she'd wash your mouth our with soap and water." James only said that to annoy Quirrell.

"Don't tell me what I can or can't say!" snarled Quirrell. "Now get out of the way!"

The 'twins' tried to make a run for it, but they had only gone five paces when the voice said, "She lies ...she lies ..."

"Miss North, come back here!" Quirrell shouted. "Tell the truth! What did you just see?"

The high voice spoke again. "Let me speak to him ... face to face ..."

"Master, you are not strong enough!"

"I have strength enough ... for this ..."  
James felt as if the Devil's Snare was rooting him to the spot. He couldn't move a muscle. Petrified, he watched as Quirrell reached up and began to unwrap his turban. The turban fell away. Quirrell's head looked strangely small without it. Then he turned slowly on the spot.

James would have screamed, but he couldn't make a sound. Where there should have been a back to Quirrell's head, there was a face, the most terrible face James had ever seen. It was chalk white with glaring red eyes and sltis for nostrils, like a snake.

"Jadina and James North..." it whispered.  
James tried to take a step backwards but his legs wouldn't move.  
"See what I have become?" the face said. "Mere shadow and vapour ... I have form only when I can share another's body ... but there have always been those willing to let me into their hearts and minds ... Unicorn blood has strengthened me, these past weeks ...the Malfoy boy and the false Harry saw faithful Quirrell drinking it for me in the Forest ... and once I have the Elixir of Life, I will be able to create a body of my own ... Now ... why don't you give me that Stone in your pocket, Miss North?"

"Never!" snarled Jade, who wasn't frozen in fear the way James was. "I'm not letting you regain a power and return to power if I can help it! So do everyone a favor and die. I'm sure Satan has a number of wonderful activities planned for you in Hell. Or rather, your soul, because your body will just become worm feed. I wonder what he has planned for you first. Letting you roast in fire and brimstone for a century or two might be too tame. He'll probably do to you what he has planned for Hitler and those other stupid people who persecuted the Jews and other people they thought subhuman during the World War Two and the Holocaust."

Voldemort looked angry for a second, then snapped, "Now Miss North, hand over the Stone and I'll spare the lives of you, your brother, and your mother. If you don't, your mother and brother will be the first to die! And it won't be quick, painless deaths either! They'll suffer for your defiance and will be begging for death by the time I'm through with them."

"I'd rather have them die horrible deaths than hand over the Stone to you!" shouted Jade, though her voice shook. She really didn't want the two people in the world she loved the most to suffer, but she also knew that they wouldn't want her to give in to Voldemort. They would much rather sacrifice themselves than have him return to power.

James snapped out of his fear and stumbled, colliding into his sister. While they were tangled together, he managed to slip the Stone out of her pocket and into his. After righting themselves, James snapped, "My sister will never hand the Stone to you, and I would gladly give up my life just so you won't come into power, Moldyshorts!" With that, he sprang for the flame door, his 'twin' right with him.

Voldemort screamed, "SEIZE HIM!" and, next second, James felt Quirrell's hands close on his wrist.

At once, a needle-sharp pain seared scross James's scar; his head felt as though it was about to split in two; he yelled, struggling with all his might, and to his surprise, Quirrell let go of him.

The pain in his head lessened - he looked around wildly to see where Quirrell had gone and saw him hunched in pain, looking at his fingers - they were blistering before his eyes.

"Seize him! SEIZE HIM!" shrieked Voldemort again and Quirrell lunged, knocking James clean off his feet, landing on top of him, both hands round his neck -

James's scar was almost blinding him with pain, yet he could see Quirrell howling in agony.

"Master, I cannot hold him - my hands - my hands!" And Quirrell, though pinning James to the ground with his knees, let go of his neck and stared, bewildered, at his own palms -James could see they looked burnt, raw, red and shiny.

"Then kill him, fool, and be done!"screeched Voldemort.  
Quirrell raised his hand to perform a deadly curse, but James, by instinct, reached up and grabbed Quirrell's face -

"AAARGH!"  
Quirrell rolled off him, his face blistering, too, and then James knew: Quirrell couldn't touch his bare skin, not without suffering terrible pain - his only chance was to keep hold of Quirrell, keep him in enough pain to stop him doing a curse.

Jamesjumped to his feet, caught Quirrell by the arm and hung on as tight as he could. In the meantime, Jade whipped out her wand and put Quirrell under the Leg-Locker Curse.

Quirrell screamed and tried to break through the spell and throw James off - the pain in James's head was building - he couldn't see - he could only hear Quirrell's terrible shrieks and Voldemort's yells of "KILL HIM! KILL HIM!" and other voices, maybe in James's own head, crying, "James! James!" He felt Quirrell's arm wrenched from his grasp, knew all was lost, and fell into blackness, down ... down ... down ...

Something gold was glinting just above him. The Snitch! He tried to catch it, but his arms were too heavy.

He blinked. It wasn't the Snitch at all. It was a pair of glasses. How strange.

He blinked again. The worried face of his mother swam into view above him. A book was lying open next to her, which explained why she had on her reading glasses. "You're awake!" she exclaimed, much relieved.

James stared at her. Then he remembered. "Mum! The Stone! It was Quirrell! He's got the Stone! Mum,tell Dumbledore, quick -"

"Calm down, James," said Mrs. North soothingly. "Quirrell does not have the Stone. Dumbledore was able to rescue you and Jade in time. Quirrell is dead, and what's left of Voldemort has left, presumably to find a new person to possess until he can find a way to regain a proper body and return to power. You have been unconcious for three days, dear."

James swallowed and looked around him. He realised he must be in the hospital wing. He was lying in a bed with white linen sheets and next to him was a table piled high with what looked like half the sweet-shop.

"Gifts from your friends and admirers," explained Mrs. North, smiling. "What happened down in the dungeons between you and Professor Quirrell is a complete secret, so, naturally, the whole school knows. I believe Fred and George Weasley tried to send you a lavatory seat. I suppose they thought it would amuse you. Madame Pomfrey, however, felt it might not be very hygenic, and confiscated it."

"Oh," said James, sitting up. "Er, Mum, exactly why are you here at Hogwarts?"

"To look after you, of course," responded Mrs. North. "Professor Dumbledore Fire-called me shortly after he had rescued you and Jade. I immediately Flooed to Hogwarts and have spent the past three days by your bedside. Except for things like using the bathroom, eating, and sleeping, of course. Oh, and for about half an hour to watch the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw match. As you were unable to play, Jade took your place, being reserve Seeker, and won the match and Quidditch Cup for Gryffindor."

"That's good," said James. "Though you really didn't need to stay for so long."

"You're my son. Of course I'd stay to make sure you were all right and would wake up. And James, if you and Jade ever scare me out of my wits again with something like this, both of you will be grounded until you turn of age. Not that I'm not proud of the two of you being so brave and facing Voldemort like that. But what you did was dangerous, and completely unnecessary. You should have let the teachers deal with it. Quirrell wasn't going to be able to get the Stone out of the Mirror anytime soon. Dumbledore had fixed it so that only those who wanted to find the Stone, but didn't want to use it, would be able to get it out."

"Oh," said James again, blushing. "I'm sorry for scaring you, Mum."

"It's all right," replied Mrs. North. "Just don't do anything like this again unless it's absolutely necessary. Oh, and when you return home for the holidays, you can't play video games for a week and Jade's not allowed to read for pleasure for a week. That's your punishment for being so reckless and scaring me so badly."

"I guess we deserve to be punished," sighed James. At least the punishment wasn't harsh or anything. He could handle not being able to play video games for a week.

The door opened and Professor Dumbledore came in. Mrs. North left, saying that she was going to inform Jade and friends that James was awake. Dumbledore took a seat and told James that the Stone was going to be destroyed. When James pointed out that it would mean Nicolas Flamel and his wife were going to die, Dumbledore explained that he'd had a chat with him and Flamel said it was for the best. After all, to a well-organized mind, death was merely the 'next great adventure'. 

James wasn't really sure what Dumbledore meant by that. However, he had grown up believing in Heaven, so he supposed that Nicolas and Prenelle Flamel, being good people, would end up there and have a pleasant afterlife. According the Book of Revelation, Heaven probably wouldn't have much in the way of adventure, but it would be a nice place anyway.

"There is one thing that puzzles me, Mr. North," continued Dumbledore. "Why was Quirrell unable to touch you? Whenyour sistertold me what happened, I was very surprised by that. She had no explanation to give me, though I really didn't expect one from her. Your mother apparently has no idea why that happened, either."

"Well, I have no idea as well," said James, though in truth he had an inkling. He supposed that when his birth mother sacrificed herself to save him, that and her love for him must have invoked some sort of magical protection. If he had come up with this theory, then Jade no doubt had figured it out too, but of course she wouldn't be able to tell Dumbledore.

Dumbledore sighed and got up. "Well, your sister and friends will probably be along shortly to visit you, Mr. North, so I will take my leave. Good day."

A few minutes later, Jade and the others turned up. Hermione looked ready to fling her arms around him again, but James was glad she held herself in as his head was still very sore. "Oh, James, we were sure you were going to - Dumbledore and Aunt Sylvia were so worried -" 

"The whole school's talking about it," said Ron. "Though half of it is completely wrong. Jade told us everything that happened after the two of you had drunk the potion to get through the black fire."

"The two of you were so brave," said Neville. "I don't think I could have faced, er, Moldyshorts, like that. That was a great nickname Jade came up with, by the way. Moldywart is good, too. We told Fred and George and they're starting to call You-Know-Who by those nicknames, too."

James grinned. "Mum told me about you taking my place and winning the Quidditch Cup for Gryffindor, Jade."

Jade returned the grin. "Wood was really happy. He hugged me, and looked as if he wanted to kiss me as well." Then she sighed. "Snape wasn't happy, though, and took fifty points from Gryffindor to trival reasons. So that, along with the points he took earlier, puts Gryffindor inlast place for the House cup. We would have been inthird place if he hadn't taken those fifty points."

"At least the food at the feast will be good," said Ron. "You've got to be up for that, James."

Madam Pomfrey, the matron, came over then and had them leave, saying that James needed rest.

After a good night's sleep, James felt nearly back to normal.

"I want to go to the feast," he told Madam Pomfrey as she straightened his many sweet-boxes. "I can, can't I?"

"Professor Dumbledore says you are allowed to go," she said sniffily, as though in her opinion Professor Dumbledore didn't realise how risky feasts could be. "And you have another visitor."

"Oh good," said James. "Who is it?"

Hagrid sidled through the door as he spoke. As usual when he was indoors, Hagrid looked too big to be allowed. He sat down next to James, took one look at him and burst into tears. 

"It's - all - my - ruddy - fault!" he sobbed, his face in his hands. "I told the evil git how ter get past Fluffy! I told him! It was the only thing he didn't know an' I told him! Yeh could've died! All fer a dragon egg! I'll never drink again! I should be chucked out an' made ter live as a Muggle!"

"Hagrid!" said James, shocked to see Hagrid shaking with grief and remorse, great tears leaking down into his beard. "Hagrid, he'd have found out somehow, this is Voldemort we're talking about, he'd have found out even if you hadn't told him."

"Yeh could've died! sobbed Hagrid. "An' don' say the name!"

"VOLDEMORT!"James bellowed, and Hagrid was so shocked, he stopped crying. "I've met him and I'm calling him by his name. Please cheer up, Hagrid, we saved the Stone, it's gone, he can't use it. Have a Chocolate Frog, I've got loads ..."

Hagrid wiped his nose on the back of his hand and said, "That reminds me. I've got yeh a present."

"It's not a stoat sandwich, is it?" said James anxiously and at last Hagrid gave a weak chuckle.

"'Nah. Dumbledore gave me the day off yesterday ter fix it. 'Course, he shoulda sacked me instead - anyway, got yeh this ..."

It seemed to be a handsome, leather-covered book. James opened it curiously. The first six pages were filled with photographs of his first year at Hogwarts. The remaining thirty or so pages were blank and Hagrid said, "That's fer the photos of yer future years at Hogwarts, James. D'yeh like it?

"Thank you, Hagrid," said James in a shaky voice. He set down the album and enveloped Hagrid in a hug.

Jamesmade his way down to the end-of-year feast alone that night. He had been held up by Madam Pomfrey's fussing-about, insisting on giving him one last check-up, so the Great Hall was already full. It was decked out in the Slytherin colours of green and silver to celebrate Slytherin's winning the House Cup for the seventh year in a row.A huge banner showing the Slytherin serpent covered the wall behind the High Table.

WhenJames walked in there was a sudden hush and then everybody started talking loudly at once. He slipped into a seat between Ron and Hermione at the Gryffindor table and tried to ignore the fact that people were standing up to look at him.

Fortunately, Dumbledore arrived moments later. The babble died away.  
"Another year gone!" Dumbledore said cheerfully. "And I must trouble you with an old man's wheezing waffle before we sink our teeth into our delicious feast. What a year it has been! Hopefully your heads are a little fuller than they were ... you have the whole summer ahead to get them nice and empty before the next year starts ...  
"Now, as I understand it, the House Cup here needs awarding and the points stand thus: in fourth place, Gryffindor, with three hundred and twelve points; in third; Hufflepuff, with three hundred and fifty-two; Ravenclaw have four hundred and twenty-six and Slytherin, four hundred and seventy-two."

A storm of cheering and stamping broke out from the Slytherin table.James could see Draco Malfoy banging his goblet on the table. It was a sickening sight.

"Yes, yes, well done, Slytherin," said Dumbledore. "However, recent events must be taken into account."

The room went very still. The Slytherins' smiles faded a little.  
"Ahem," said Dumbledore. "I have a few last-minute points to dish out. Let me see. Yes ...  
"First - to Mr. Ronald Weasley ..."

Ron went purple in the face; he looked like a radish with bad sunburn. 

"... for the best-played game of chess Hogwarts has seen in many years, I award Gryffindor house forty points."

Gryffindor cheers nearly reached the bewitched ceiling; the stars overhead seemed to quiver. Percy could be heard telling the other Prefects, "My brother, you know! My youngest brother! Got past McGonagall's giant chess set!"

At last there was silence again.  
"Second - to Miss Hermione Granger ... for the use of cool logic in the face of fire, I award Gryffindor house forty points."

Hermione buried her face in her arms; James strongly suspected she had burst into tears. Gryffindors up and down the table were beside themselves - they were eighty points up.

"Third - to Mr. Neville Longbottom ... for standing by his friends and figuring out how to deal with a dangerous plant, I award Gryffindor house forty points."

Neville was in shock, for he had never won so much as a point for Gryffindor before, except for a couple of times in Herbology. There were even more cheers, for now Gryffindor was a hundred and twenty points up.

"And fourth - to Miss Jadina North and Mr. James North..." said Dumbledore. The room went deadly quiet. "... for pure nerve and outstanding courage, I award Gryffindor house one hundred points."

Someone standing outside the Great Hall might well have thought some sort of explosion had taken place, so loud was the noise that erupted from the Gryffindor table. Gryffindor was fifty points ahead of Slytherin and therefore would now win the House Cup. 

James, still cheering, nudged Ron in the ribs and pointed at Malfoy, who couldn't have looked more stunned and horrified if he'd just had the Body-Bind curse put on him. Darryl, who no longer looked like the Boy-Who-Lived, but now looked like what was probably his original self, scowled.

"Which means," Dumbledore called over the storm of applause, for even Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were celebrating the downfall of Slytherin, "we need a little change of decoration."

He clapped his hands. In an instant, the green hangings became scarlet and the silver became gold; the huge Slytherin serpent vanished and a towering Gryffindor lion took its place. Snape was shaking Professor McGonagall's hand, with a horrible forced smile.

It seemed as though life would be back to normal next year, or as normal as it ever was at Hogwarts. It was the best evening of James's life, better than winning at Quidditch or Christmas orcelebrating his birthday... he would never, ever forget tonight.

Jameshad almost forgotten that the exam results were still to come, but come they did. To his utter surprise, he not passed, but came in third in the year.Ron placed fourth, tied with Darryl Anton, to his utter disgust. Jade and Hermione, of course,were tied for top of the year. Hermione had done slightly better in Charms, while Jade had done slightly better in Transfiguration. Neville came out in seventh place, his excellent Herbology mark (the one class that he had done better than his friends in) making up for his rather average Potions mark. He was surprised by how well he had done andinsisted that it was due to his friends helping him study. That was partly the case, but James knew that it also had to do with the confidence Neville had gained.

And suddenly, their wardrobes were empty, their trunks were packed, Neville's toad was found lurking in a corner of the toilets; notes were handed out to all students, warning them not to use magic over the holidays (I always hope they'll forget to give us these," said Fred Weasley sadly); Hagrid was there to take them down to the fleet of boats that sailed across the lake; they were boarding the Hogwarts Express; talking and laughing as the country-side became greener and tidier; eating Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans as they sped past Muggle towns; pulling off their wizard robes and putting on jackets and coats; pulling into platform nine and three-quarters at King's Cross Station.

It took a while for them all to get off the platform. A wizened old guard was up by the ticket barrier, letting them go through the gate in twos and threes so they didn't attract attention by all bursting out of a solid wall at once and alarming the Muggles.

Ron said that he was going to invite them to visit for part of the summer and Neville said that he was going to ask his grandmother to allow them to visit and celebrate his birthday. Jade and James promised that they were all invited to their birthday party.

Mrs. North was waiting outside the barrier and she greeted the five kids. Neville then bid his friends good-bye and left with his grandmother. Mrs. Weasley came with Ginny in tow to collect Ron. She greeted them and Jade and James thanked her again for the sweaters and fudge. (They had sent her thank-you notes during the Christmas holidays.)

Mrs. Weasley told them that it was nothing, said she'd arrange with Mrs. North for a time for their kids to visit, and then went to collect Fred and George. Ron quickly bid his friends good-bye and followed after his mother and sister.

The Drs. Granger and Mrs. North led Hermione, James, and Jade out the station. They got into their respective cars and they drove home. James and Jade knew that they would have a wonderful summer holiday.

Author's Note: Well, that is the end of this fic. The sequel, _James and Jade North and the Book of Possession _is now up. Unlike this fic, it will not stick to canon so much. There will be some major changes, and it will combine some of the events of the second and third books. Ginny will not get Riddle's diary. The person who does get it won't be as naive as Ginny, and therefore there won't be a bunch of students, Nearly-Headless Nick, and Mrs. Norris being petrified. Please read it. Thank you.


End file.
